


Find A Way (Home To You)

by saint_weasley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, No Underage Sex, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:33:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 37,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27503122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saint_weasley/pseuds/saint_weasley
Summary: It's the end of summer holiday and Genevieve Lily Lupin has spent two months without the presence of her best friends while they were in Egypt.The news has just been heard that the notorious murderer Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban.She could potentially be in danger, and on top of this she finds herself having new emerging feelings about one of her best friends.
Relationships: George Weasley/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on twitter where I will post updates: @SA1NTWEASLEY
> 
> A very special thanks to Jaydin (@W1CKEDWEASLEY) for helping me come up with an amazing title!

I woke abruptly with the sound of excited tapping on my window from a very familiar and wily screech owl. Strix has been my owl ever since dad had taken me to Eeylops the summer before my first year. I immediately knew he was going to be mine.  
I quickly got myself out of bed and made my way over to the window, sliding it open to allow Strix inside. I rubbed the top of his head while taking my letters and a copy of the The Daily Prophet from him. I couldn’t help the smile that formed on my face as I saw my name, Genevieve Lily Lupin, written in the familiar handwriting of Molly Weasley on the front of the top envelope. I quickly set the other parcels down as I worked to open the letter.

My dear Genevieve,  
I am so very sorry once again that you were not able to accompany the family on our trip to Egypt. You were dearly missed, especially by your two favorite troublemakers. Now getting right to the point of why I am writing. We will be staying at The Leaky Cauldron before the school year starts and we would love it if you could join us. I have not mentioned this to Fred and George as I thought it may be a nice surprise for them. Please check with Remus if this would be alright and we would be more than willing to have you accompany us into Diagon Alley for your school supplies. Please send word back once you have spoken with your father. I do so hope you can come.

With love,  
Molly Weasley

As I finished reading I could not help the rather large smile that had made its way onto my face. I sat the letter down as I turned my attention to the other parcels Strix had brought this morning. The other envelope is the list of school supplies I will need for my fifth year at Hogwarts which I threw onto my bed after looking it over. The last thing in my hand was a copy of The Daily Prophet. The smile on my face quickly dropped as I saw the top headline, “Escape From Azkaban!” with the familiar picture of Sirius Black.

I quickly ran downstairs, holding tightly to the newspaper as I searched the house for my father.

“Dad! Dad, where are you?” I yelled as I got to the end of the hall.

“I’m in here Eve!” He shouted from the direction of his study.

I made my way farther down the hall until I got to the door of his study and rushed inside. I made my way over to his desk and handed him the newspaper.

“Dad, I think you need to see this.” 

He took the newspaper and quickly read over the front page, his eyes widened ever so slightly and brow furrowed as glanced once more at the picture of Sirius Black. I stared at my father with a worried look as I waited for him to say anything at all. He remained deep in thought. 

After a moment of waiting I finally decided to break the silence. “Dad? What are you thinking? What does this mean?”

Dad slowly laid the paper down on his desk as he looked up at me. I watched him another moment as I waited for a response.  
“I’m not entirely sure Eve, but I do know everything is going to be perfectly alright. I’ll be sure of it. I don’t want you wandering alone outside of Hogwarts this year though. I would prefer if you go anywhere, that it be with friends.”

I nodded as he finished speaking, and I began thinking more about what Sirius Black being on the loose really could mean, but in all honesty I haven’t a clue. Would he want to come after my father? Or me? I pushed that thought aside as another thought entered my mind. What could this mean for Harry? It could be assumed he would be in the most danger out of any of us.

I was brought suddenly back to the present upon hearing my father stand from where he sat in his chair. I looked up to see my father walk around his desk before pulling me into a firm, comforting hug. 

“Well I’m certainly glad I took the position at the school this year. It will allow me to relax at least slightly, knowing we will be on the same grounds and I can keep an eye on you.” Dad kissed the top of my head and looked down at me with a small, amused smile.

“Not too closely I hope. I do have a reputation to uphold and how will I be able to get into mischief with my father watching my every move?” I grinned up at him, glad to be momentarily distracted from the problem at hand. 

“I would expect nothing less from my own daughter. I will try to turn a blind eye, but I am a professor now and if I see any of it myself, it is my job to enforce the school rules.” He stated firmly. “So just don’t let me see it and the same goes for your partners in crime.” Dad smirked ever so slightly as he turned back to his desk.His mention of my partners in crime brought my thoughts back to the letter that was sitting on my bed upstairs. 

“Oh, dad, speaking of Fred and George, Molly sent me a letter this morning. I know things aren’t as safe now with Black on the loose from Azkaban but I promise I won’t be on my own for a minute-”

“Eve, you are beginning to ramble. What is your question sweetheart?” My father tried to hide the smile threatening to make its way onto his face as he stared at me expectantly.

“Can I visit the Weasley’s at The Leaky Cauldron? Molly said I could go with them into Diagon Alley for my school supplies and I’ll make sure I don’t wander off on my own. I really want to see everyone before the school year starts and I haven’t seen George and Fred since the beginning of summer.” I took a deep breath as I looked at him hopefully.

At first he looked hesitant while contemplating everything that had just been blurted at him. Finally he let out a sigh and smiled. 

“Oh alright, I trust you to keep a watchful eye out. And I know Molly and Arthur will be more than happy to watch out for you. George and Fred as well. So yes you may go. I will send a letter to Molly explaining the situation and what we have discussed but I will accompany you to The Leaky Cauldron. Once I know you are safely with the Weasley’s I will head off. I will still need to finish preparing to leave for Hogwarts.”

A huge smile spread across my face and I quickly rushed forward to embrace him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! And I promise I will be safe.” 

My father chuckled as I released him. I watched as he pulled out ink and parchment to begin his letter to Molly. 

Dad looked up at me with a puzzled expression. “What are you still doing here? I think you have some packing to do young lady.”

I heard him laugh as I ran out of the study. I took the stairs two at a time as I made my way to my room and pulled my trunk out from under my bed. Any nerves I had previously been feeling were pushed to the back of my mind at the thought of getting to see the Weasleys, or more specifically, George and Fred. It had been two long months and I couldn’t wait any longer. My thoughts lingered a little longer on George as I imagined how his summer went and how much he may have thought about me between traveling around Egypt and no doubt getting into trouble with Fred. I had suddenly realized why I was having such strong feelings arise from just the thought of him. I shook my head, trying to clear it as I refocused myself on packing. I had soon finished packing everything I needed for the couple of days I would be spending at The Leaky Cauldron and now I just had to decide exactly how I wanted to surprise the Weasley twins.

\-----------------

The day had finally come. I had asked dad if we could make a stop at Gambol and Japes Joke Shop in Diagon Alley before he dropped me off at The Leaky Cauldron. I wanted to pick up some gifts for George and Fred but I also wanted to get something for myself to aid me on my mission to surprise them. I knew exactly what I wanted to get which made for a very quick trip and then we were on our way. An excited smile made its way onto my face as we entered The Leaky Cauldron. As I looked around I soon spotted Molly and Arthur sitting at a table nearby, awaiting our arrival. 

“Molly! Arthur!” My father exclaimed as we approached where they had been sitting. They looked over with smiling faces as we walked toward them.

“Hello Remus!” Arthur stood and shook my father’s hand. Molly was out of her seat and had me in a tight embrace in the blink of an eye. I hugged her back and smiled brightly as she released me. She took a step back and held me by my shoulders as she looked me over.

“Oh we are so happy you could come! Oh and look at you dear! You have gotten even more beautiful since we last saw you!” She turned to Arthur with one hand still resting on my shoulder. “Look at her Arthur! Hasn’t she grown? She’s a young woman now.” I could feel the heat spreading across my cheeks as Molly spoke.

“Of course, she is a lovely young lady.” Arthur spoke while giving me a kind smile. “Now I do think you are embarrassing the poor girl Molly.” Arthur and my father chuckled to one another while I looked back to Molly who was smiling at me proudly.

“Oh I am sorry dear but it is true.” Molly gave my shoulder a squeeze and turned back to address my father. “Remus, I promise you we will take good care of her.”

“I don’t doubt it for a moment Molly. I know she is in good hands.” Dad smiled between Molly and Arthur then turned to me. “I will be travelling to Hogwarts on the Express, so I will see you on the train. You take care of yourself and have fun. I’ll see you in a couple of days sweetheart.” He pulled me into a strong hug and kissed the top of my head.

I hugged him back tightly and grabbed my trunk from him as I pulled away. “Goodbye dad, I’ll see you on the train.” I watched as dad said his goodbyes to Molly and Arthur, then he was off.

“Oh Eve dear, I do hope you don’t mind but you will be sharing a room with Hermione and Ginny.” Molly looked at me for a moment, watching my reaction.

“That will be perfect Molly. Thank you so much! I didn’t know Hermione was going to be here. Will Harry be here as well?” 

“Oh yes dear, he got here before we did actually”, Molly explained.

“Brilliant, I’m so excited to see everyone. Which leads me to my next question. Do Fred and George still not know I’m coming?” I looked hopefully between Arthur and Molly as I waited for an answer.

“No dear, they have absolutely no clue.” Molly smiled knowingly at me.

“Do you know where I can find them?” I asked Molly excitedly.

“Of course! They should be up in their room plotting who knows what. You go up there dear, don’t worry about your trunk, we will get that taken up to your room for you. You go find those boys!” Molly smiled brightly at me and made sure I knew which room belonged to the twins and was quickly shooing me towards the stairs.

Once I made it upstairs and found Fred and George’s room, I quickly went to work on my greeting. I found the perfect place to hide just down the hall from their room and pulled out the No Heat Fireworks I had gotten on my trip to Gambol and Japes. I set them in my hiding place and quickly ran to the door of their room. I readied myself as I stood in front of the door then knocked loudly. I ran as fast as I could back to my hiding position and grabbed two of the fireworks. I waited only a moment before the door opened. Peeking out from behind the corner where I hid, that’s when I saw Fred looking out into the hall with an exceedingly confused look on his face. His hair was longer and he had gotten taller since I had last seen him, so I assumed George would probably look similar. 

“Oi George! There’s no one out here. You heard the knock right?” Fred asked as he shouted back into the room.

“What do you mean no one is out there? Someone definitely knocked.” I heard George respond and I made a note to myself that his voice sounded deeper than the last time we spoke. I was suddenly caught off guard by the feeling of butterflies overwhelming my stomach.

I shook my head and took a deep breath, trying to ignore whatever it was I had just felt. It wasn’t the time for that, I had a mission. I moved just barely out of my hiding spot and soon set off both fireworks one after the other right towards where Fred was standing. That is when I saw him, right as the first firework sped passed Fred’s face, George had made his way to the door. I immediately felt the butterflies return to my stomach and my heart was beating like crazy.

“Fireworks?” Fred questioned with a shout.

“Who the bloody hell-”, George began as both he and Fred ducked out of the way of the incoming sparks. 

My heart would not stop racing but I also couldn’t help the laugh that began to escape my mouth at their reactions. I slowly stepped out of my hiding place taking a bow before I looked back up between the two of them.

“Wha- Evie?” Fred shouted in shock and looked back from me to his brother with a wide grin on his face before he quickly made his way over to me. Fred picked me up and squeezed me tightly until all the air was pushed from my lungs.

“Freddie. Release. Please.” I let out between gasps while smacking him on the back. Fred laughed and set me down. My eyes made their way back to George who stood behind his twin with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

As soon as I regained my composure from having the breath squeezed out of me, George had his arms around me in a strong hug. “You sure do know how to make an entrance Evie.” He had to have only been holding me for a few seconds but it felt like forever. I made note of the smell of fireworks, cinnamon, and last but not least, honeysuckle which I would often smell when visiting the Burrow. I found myself strongly missing the feeling and the scent when he finally pulled away.

“What are you doing here?” Fred asked excitedly.

“Your mum sent me a letter asking if I wanted to join you all, so of course I had to. I missed you two.” I grinned up at the two boys standing in front of me. “So how was Egypt?”

The boys pulled me into their room and were soon telling me all about their trip. They got to visit so many amazing places and were really happy to be able to see Bill as well. 

“I’m glad you had fun but I am very glad to have you back. With you two gone, my summer was not nearly as fun as it usually is. Oh, I got you both something.” I turned around and pulled two medium sized boxes of joke items out of my bag and handed on to each twin. They both looked from me back to the boxes and quickly tore them open, looking through what they contained.

“Evie! Thank you! It’s as if you are the only one who truly knows us.” Fred stated dramatically while holding a fistful of Hiccough Sweets to his chest.

I grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at his head.

“Hey!” He gave me a serious expression but it was soon replaced with a smile.

I looked over at George who smiled back at me before he looked down at the box of items in his lap, fidgeting with the lid.

“Georgie? Are you okay?” I crawled over to him and sat myself on his right side.

I heard Fred clear his throat and looked up to see him staring back and forth between the two of us, settling on his brother with a knowing look. “I’ll just- I’m going to go test some of my new presents on Percy.” He made his way out of the room quickly. I watched as the door shut behind him and brought my gaze back to George who was suddenly blushing.  
“I uh- I got you something while we were in Egypt.” George stood up and made his way over to his trunk. When he returned, he sat down now holding a small brown box with a little red bow. “I was gonna give it to you once we had gotten to Hogwarts but, well, you’re here now. So…” 

I couldn’t help the blush that creeped its way onto my own cheeks as he placed the box in my hand. “Georgie, you didn’t need to get me anything. Though I am very excited you did.” I let my gaze wander away from the box in my hand until I was met with familiar warm brown eyes. 

“I know I didn’t need to, but I wanted to, and I knew I had to get it for you as soon as I saw it. So go on, open it.” He ducked his head and scratched the back of his neck as I turned my attention back to the box.

I made quick work of the bow and removed the lid. My breath caught in my throat as soon as I saw it. In the box laid a gorgeous silver necklace, the pendant was also silver and held an intricate floral pattern with a few small red stones placed throughout. I pulled it out of the box and stared down at it in awe.  
“Georgie, this is- this is absolutely beautiful.” My eyes came back up to meet his and I noticed his face was still as red as ever.

“It uh- It’s actually a locket as well. Here-” He reached over and unlatched the side of the pendant and placed it in my hand.

I couldn’t help the tears that started to make their way into my eyes as I continued to stare at the now open locket. Inside rested a picture taken last Christmas Eve of Fred, George and I laughing in front of the fireplace at the Burrow. George had his arm draped over my shoulders, my head was leaning against his shoulder while Fred was holding his stomach as he laughed. They had just given Ron a present they had rigged to squirt out ink whenever he opened it. The look on his face had been priceless. A I looked at the opposite side of the locket, I noticed it held the words The Leaky Cauldron. I looked back up to George as I wiped the tears away.

“I absolutely love it Georgie. This is the best gift anyone has ever given me. I do have a question though. Why does it say ‘The Leaky Cauldron’ on this side?” My brow furrowed as my gaze once again met his.

He looked suddenly flustered as his gaze moved away from my face and down to the locket. “Oh, um- I’m not actually sure. I just assumed it changed to wherever you are while wearing it.” His eyes shifted away once more as he spoke. I could tell there was definitely something he wasn’t saying but I chose to let it go at the moment. 

“Oh, interesting.” I looked quizzically down at the locket still in my hands. While holding it firmly, I launched myself at George, wrapping my arms around his neck. His arms wrapped around me almost immediately. It seemed like hours had passed before we eventually pulled away from each other. 

He cleared his throat and looked down at the locket. “Would you like me to put it on?” He asked softly while holding out his hand.

I nodded as I placed the necklace in his hand and turned around, lifting my long hair up and away from my neck. George placed it around my neck and latched it. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. As I felt his hands move away from my neck, I took a deep breath and turned back to face him. I brought my eyes back up from the locket now hanging around my neck, until they locked with his. We were surrounded by quiet, the only sound to be heard was that of our soft, uneven breaths as we stared at one another. I anxiously bit my lower lip and watched as his eyes shifted ever so slightly toward the motion. I hadn’t noticed until then that we were slowly inching closer until there was a sudden, loud knock on the door which caused us to jump back from each other. The door opened and Hermione popped her head inside. We both quickly turned to look at her, both of our faces flushed bright red.

“Eve! I’m so glad you’re here!” Hermione stopped for a moment upon striding into the room, noticing the looks on both our faces. I watched as her expression became more curious and a small smile crept onto her face before she continued into the room. “I was coming up to let you two know we are gathering for dinner.”

George stood up and looked from Hermione, to me, then back to Hermione. “Oh, okay. Well- uh- I’m going to go see if Fred was able to pull anything on Percy.” He threw a glance at me once more before rushing out of the room.

Hermione turned back to me with a smirk. “Did I happen to interrupt something?”

“What? No, not at all!” I stammered as I looked back at her with wide eyes.

“Oh that was quite convincing.” Hermione stated sarcastically.

“Hermione, nothing happened.” I turned away as I fidgeted with my locket.

“If you say so.” Hermione shrugged as she watched my reaction.

“He’s my best friend Hermione! Besides even if I was having certain feelings towards him, which I am not saying I am, I doubt George would be experiencing these same feelings. I mean- those same feelings.” I spluttered as I tried to catch my words and looked down at my hands which were resting in my lap.

“I don’t have much experience in this area, but based off the look on George’s face when I came in, I would say it could be quite possible he is also experiencing similar feelings. Of course- not that you are, you know, experiencing feelings.” I was met with a smug grin from Hermione as I brought my head back up.

I took a moment to digest what Hermione had just said. All I could wonder was if she was right about George. I decided I needed a distraction before the thought consumed me.

“Okay well, we best be getting downstairs. I’m sure everyone is wondering where we are.” I said to Hermione as I stood abruptly and made my way toward the door, waiting for her to follow.

We made our way downstairs and into the dining room. As I walked in, I scanned the group until I spotted George and Fred laughing about something at the end of the table.  
“Oh there they are! We were wondering when you two would be down!” Molly smiled as she stood up and motioned Hermione and I over. George’s head snapped up and over in my direction as he heard his mother speak. 

“Evie! Come over here! There’s an open spot next to George!” Fred shouted over the other conversations happening around us. 

Hermione grinned at me before heading over to sit with Ron. Harry was wandering back over to the table after having a seemingly serious conversation with Arthur. I gave a small wave to Ginny and Percy as I made my way around the table to the open spot next to George. He quickly stood up and moved to pull out my chair. I could feel the blush once again creep to my cheeks as I sense multiple pairs of eyes on us. In five years of friendship, George had never pulled a chair out for me.

“Thank you.” I told him softly and took my seat before he pushed my chair in and sat down beside me. Fred was staring with that same knowing grin as earlier, before focusing back on his food. As I looked up at the others who I knew had been watching, they all shifted their eyes away. George cleared his throat and gave me a small smile before Fred pulled him back into the conversation they were having before I arrived. 

I glanced around at who all was sitting at the table as I tried to decide who I should speak to before deciding upon Ron.

“Hey Ron, how did you enjoy Egypt?”

“Oh hey Eve! It was amazing really! I’m sure Fred and George told you all about it.” He smiled back at me then looked at his brothers. 

“Yeah, just about. Sounds like you all had fun. Glad you got to see Bill as well.”

“Rubbish you couldn’t come with us though.” Ron said sympathetically. 

“Yeah, but I understand.” I waved it off as I took a bite of my food. I looked back up and turned my attention to Harry.

“You alright Harry?” I asked him thoughtfully.

“I’m doing alright now. Thank you for asking , Genevieve.” Harry responded with a small smile. I gave him a nod and reassuring smile before I turned back to listen to what the twins were talking about. My thoughts momentarily wandered to Sirius Black and where he could be at the moment and what he could possibly be planning.

“What do you think Evie?” I was brought back to the present by the sound of George’s voice.

“Oh uh- sorry boys, what do I think about what?”

“You alright there Evie?” Fred asked with a hint of concern.

“Yeah, yeah. I actually- I have some things to tell you two.” I looked between the two boys and quickly looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to the three of us.

“Does it have to do with Sirius Black escaping?” George whispered.

I nodded and looked around once more, taking in not just those at our own table but the strangers at the tables nearby as well. “Shouldn’t talk about it here though.” I stood up and motioned for the twins to do the same. “Excuse us!” I grabbed a hand from both twins and pulled them behind me until we got to the stairs and I let them go. I didn’t begin speaking until we were safely inside their room.

I filled them in on everything I had discussed with my father earlier in the week. The twins already knew of mine and my father’s relation to Sirius Black, I had told them years ago. Actually I had told these two everything. They were also the only two besides Molly and Arthur who knew my father was a werewolf as well. During longer holidays I had usually stayed at least once a month with the Weasleys whenever my dad’s transformation was due. I had no problem telling the twins, I would trust them with my life.

“We will absolutely look out for you. You know we won’t let anything happen to you right?” George asked after a moment of quiet while they both processed what I had told them. 

I smiled at his comforting words and leaned over to place a quick kiss on his cheek and then sat back into my spot.

“Georgie is right Evie. We’ll be there whenever you need us.” 

I leaned over and hugged Fred tightly, as I leaned away I ruffled his hair and chuckled. “Thanks you two. That makes me feel a bit better.” I took a few calming breaths and looked back and forth between the two of them. “Moving swiftly on, I don’t mind the hair at all. Fits you two quite nicely.” 

Fred and George grinned to one another before turning to me. 

“I do think we look quite dashing.” Fred said while dramatically flipping his long hair back from his face, George followed with the same move.

I laughed and playfully smacked both their shoulders. “This is why I compliment you so little. So full of yourselves.” I smirked and shook my head. I stretched out my arms over my head and let out a yawn. I looked over at the clock, only then had I realized how late it had gotten. “Oh bloody hell, I didn’t notice the time. I should probably get going to bed. Don’t want to wake up Hermione and Ginny.” I slowly stood up and made my way over to the door. 

“Goodnight Evie. See you in the morning!” Fred shouted as he made his way over to his own bed.  
“Evie, hold on. I’ll walk you to your room.” George stood up and made his way over to me at the door. I waved to Fred and stepped out into the hall with George close behind. We began walking down the hall to my room.

“Thank you again for my present Georgie.” I told him as I grasped the locket in my hand. “I may never take it off.”

George smiled and glanced from the locket to my face. “I would hope not.” It was quiet for a moment before he regained a somewhat serious expression. “And really Evie, don’t worry about Black, we all look out for each other and if wants to get to you he will have to get through me and Fred and I’m pretty sure a dozen other people as well.”

I grinned up at him as we stopped in front of my room. I stepped forward and hugged him tightly, resting my head against his chest. I pulled away ever so slightly so I could stand on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek for the second time that day. 

“Thank you once again Georgie. You always know how to make me feel better.” I patted his chest as I stepped away from him.

“Of course, but two kisses on the cheek in one day? What did I do to deserve this?”

I smiled brightly up at him. “Well I guess that is for me to know and you to find out… If you’re lucky that is.” A cheeky smile made its way onto my face as I moved toward the door.

“Mysterious as ever Miss Lupin.” I watched George shake his head incredulously as I grabbed a hold of the door knob. 

“Goodnight George”, I whispered as I made my way into the room. Noticing both girls already asleep, I closed the door quietly behind me. As I got into bed, all my previous worries from the week vanished as my thoughts focused on one Mr. George Weasley until I drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I bit my lip anxiously as I slowly began to walk toward him. He ended up meeting me half-way with a nervous expression.
> 
> “I figured it out. Finally.” I smiled shyly up at him.
> 
> George’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed before speaking. “I was beginning to wonder if you ever would.” His cheeks were tinted red as he offered me a soft smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small warning, this one has a little angst. Things will shape up, I promise. We just have an idiots in love situation happening.

It was the day before the start of the new school year and I woke to the sound of Hermione and Ginny yelling my name, followed by them informing me we were going to Diagon Alley to get all our necessary items for school. That ended up being how most of the day was spent. I was able to get all my books, a new set of robes, and some treats from Eeylops for Strix. I spent most of the day with Hermione, Ginny, and Molly since all the boys were tired of shopping. Fred and George had checked in with me before they took off to make sure I would be okay without them. I felt a strange pang of longing as I watched George rush off with Fred. After they left, I ended up having a great time with just the girls for once. 

We didn’t arrive back at The Leaky Cauldron until closer to dinner time. We were all heading to bed right after dinner in order to make the train back to Hogwarts in the morning. I was excited, not only to be heading back to Hogwarts, but also to see my father and wish him luck. I knew he would be an amazing Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and we were in desperate need of one who actually knew what they were doing.

I sat with George and Fred at dinner once again. We filled each other in on how our days went. They were able to pull pranks on both Percy and Ron and also caused a small explosion in their room, leading to a very angry Molly. They had certainly gotten an earful once she found out at dinner. I had to hide a smile and muffled a laugh as I watched them being scolded. I had only caught George staring at me once before the three of us started talking about the quidditch team for the upcoming year.

After everyone finished dinner, Hermione, Ginny and I went upstairs to finish packing our trunks back up for the next day. I finished mine quickly and took a seat on my bed. I pulled my necklace out from where it was tucked inside my shirt and unlatched the locket. Looking inside I stared at the picture then to the opposite side where the words The Leaky Cauldron were still sitting. I furrowed my brow in thought while staring down at it in my hand. There had to be more to this gift. I gently closed the locket and let it fall back to my chest. I got dressed for bed and was soon drifting to sleep.

I awoke to the sound of Molly knocking on our door. She had soon come in and had us all up and out of bed within minutes. It didn’t take me long to get ready and once I was finished Hermione, Ginny, and I made our way downstairs. We ate breakfast as we waited for Ron, Harry, and the twins. Once they were done eating we all stood up to leave but as I moved to grab my trunk, a certain tall, red haired twin already had a hold of it.

“I’ve got it Evie.” George smiled down at me before walking to the exit.

I exchanged a look with Hermione before following after him, trying to hold back a rather large grin.

We all said our goodbyes to Molly and Arthur and then piled onto the train. I hadn’t yet seen my father, but I assumed he had already found a compartment. George, Fred, and I found an empty compartment of our own and got comfortable. Fred and George sat together on one side while I sat on the other, across from George. Soon after, Lee Jordan found us and made his way inside, happily greeting us all. I stood up and hugged him before he took a seat next to Fred. My eyes met George’s and he gave me a sweet smile before my attention was pulled to the door as Angelina Johnson made her way inside.

“Angelina!” I jumped up and hugged her before pulling her down to sit beside me. 

“Genevieve! I missed you so much! How was your holiday?” Angelina turned so she was sitting facing me as she spoke. 

“It was okay. Better the last few days since I was able to see these two muppets.” I motioned toward Fred and George, then turned back to Angelina. I noticed them both flip me off out of the corner of my eye which caused me to smile and return the gesture while the rest of my body faced Angelina. 

As the train began the journey to Hogwarts, we fell into conversation about Angelina’s summer and anything else that happened to come up. Angelina glanced down briefly and I saw her eyes stop on my necklace.

“Eve! That is gorgeous! Where’d you get it?”

I took the necklace into my hand as I looked down at it. I looked over to where George sat but he was deep in conversation with Lee and Fred.  
“Actually, it was a gift from George.” I leaned over to whisper to her. “It has a picture from last Christmas Eve of the three of us, but actually it is charmed on the other side to show a location. George said it just shows the location of whoever is wearing it but he didn’t sound like that was entirely the truth.”

Angeline looked at me curiously, then smiled excitedly before whispering to me. “So what does it say right now?”

“Well I could take a guess but let's see.” I unlatched the locket and surely enough written opposite from the picture were the words Hogwarts Express. I showed it to Angelina as she cocked her head to the side as she looked down at it.

“That is interesting, I’ve never seen a necklace like it. That is a lovely gift to give a friend.” Angelina put special emphasis on the last word before giving me a sly smirk. I rolled my eyes and leaned back against my seat, hiding a small smile.

“Oh I can’t believe I forgot to tell you! My dad is going to be the new Dark Arts teacher!” I turned back to tell her excitedly.

“That’ll be amazing Eve! I’m sure he will do great.” Angelina reached over and gave my hand a squeeze.

“He will definitely be better than that absolute nutter we had last year.” Lee said, bringing the conversation back to the whole group.

“That’s not saying much Lee. A troll would have done a better job than that nitwit.” I responded while pulling my feet up onto the seat to get comfortable. All four of my friends laughed at that comment before the train was suddenly coming to a screeching halt. 

My feet came back down to the ground before I looked out the window and then to each of my friends who shared an equal look of confusion.

“Why have we stopped?” Angelina asked, mostly to herself since she knew none of us would have the answer.

“I have absolutely no idea. Hold on.” I stood up and made my way over to the door of our compartment and slid it open. As I looked out into the hall, I noticed how cold it had gotten. After a moment of looking out into the hall, I made out a large, dark figure which I immediately knew to be a dementor which had stopped at one of the compartments at the end of the hall. I slowly backed into the compartment and closed the door over before I turned and made my way back to my seat.  
George leaned forward and immediately placed a hand on my knee. I felt warmer all at once with his touch and I looked back up at him.

“Evie, what is it?” George asked me as the others looked worriedly from the door to me. 

“Dementors”, I whispered. “I’m assuming they’re searching the train.”

George squeezed my knee in a comforting manner and gave me a look of understanding. I didn’t have to say who they were searching for in order for George to know. My hand reached for his still rested on my knee and I gripped it tightly as one of the dementors slowly made its way to our compartment. The door slowly opened and the dark figure peered inside. I held tighter to George’s hand, Angelina was gripping my other, and Fred and Lee were staring toward us, pretending it wasn’t floating right next to them. Almost as soon as it entered, it had left. There was a collective sound of breaths being released as the moment of tension vanished. Suddenly the lights popped back on and we all looked at each other, then out into the hall. Angelina had released my hand but I had not yet released George’s. 

“Well that one is certainly the life of the party.” Fred cracked on, causing the mood to lighten considerably and George elbowed him playfully.

“I’m going to see if I can find my father. Just to check in.” I released George’s hand and thought I saw just the slightest tinge of disappointment cross his face before he nodded and leaned back into his seat.

I made my way out of our compartment and was soon looking into each one I passed in search of my father. Finally I had found who I was looking for. He had ended up in the same compartment as Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Only one of whom, Ron, had met my father before. I opened the compartment and looked from my dad to the trio who sat opposite from him. Harry looked a bit shaken as he sat, eating a piece of chocolate. My father quickly looked me over and then motioned for me to sit down beside him.

“I assume from the look of things that the dementors paid you a visit. Are you alright Harry? What happened?” I asked him as I sat down.

“It attacked him!” Ron said a little too loud with a mix of anxiousness and anger. 

“I’m alright now though. Thank you Eve.” I nodded and looked back to my father.

“Well I see you two have finally met my dad.” I gave them a small smile and looked back to my father.

“A shame it wasn’t under better circumstances however.” Dad said, looking from me to the other three. “How are you Eve? Did they give you any trouble?” 

“No dad, one actually stopped by, we had a nice chat over tea. A shame really that he couldn’t stay longer.” I shrugged my shoulders before I gave my father a cheeky grin. 

He shook his head and let out a low chuckle. “I should have expected that response.” Dad reached over and ruffled my hair. I pulled away and smoothed it out, glaring at my dad jokingly.

“Okay well I just wanted to check in. Also I hadn’t been able to see you yet. How are you feeling dad?”

“I feel ready Evie. Already have some great ideas, you will just have to wait and see.” He winked at me and smiled.

“I think we are getting close to Hogwarts so I’m gonna get back to my compartment. See you all at the feast this evening!” I hugged my dad and gave a wave to Hermione, Harry, and Ron before I turned to head out the door but I was stopped momentarily by my father’s voice.

“Remember what we talked about Evie. Keep yourself safe.” He stated firmly, maintaining direct eye contact with me. I nodded in response. 

“I will dad. I promise.” I shot him a smile before I took off down the hall.

We had finally arrived at Hogwarts and the welcome feast was in full swing , all the first years had been sorted. Dumbledore welcomed us all and introduced two new professors, my father for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures which my friends and I were more than excited about.

After we were all stuffed from the feast, I walked with Fred and George to Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady was as difficult as ever when it came to letting us enter. We immediately found our spots on the empty couch before anyone else could take it. I sat between the two twins with a smile.

“It’s nice to be back. I almost forgot, have you two already thought of a ‘welcome back’ gift for Filch?” I asked, looking first to Fred and then to George.

“Who do you take us for? Of course we have something planned for Ol’ Filchy.” Fred smirked and leaned back into the couch.

“We’ve had something planned for a few days now.” George smiled at me and gave me a nudge with his elbow. “Would you like to help?”

“Of course I’d like to help! No who do you take me for?” I said excitedly while elbowing him back.

We sat in front of the fire as we discussed our plan for Filch, which drifted into talking about quidditch and much more until it was time for us to go to bed. There were still some other students sitting in the common room but many had already made their way up to the dormitories earlier on. 

I began to make my way to the stairs that lead up to the girls dormitory but stopped at the base of the stairs to turn back to the boys. “I’ll see you two in the morning. Meet here like usual?”

Fred gave me a nod. “Absolutely Evie. Goodnight!” He smiled and moved towards the stairs of the boys dormitory.

“Sleep well Evie.” George smiled at me softly.

I smiled back at him before I turned and made my way up the stairs. Once inside my room I was greeted by Alicia and Angelina. After getting changed into my pajamas, I climbed into bed.

“So Genevieve?” I heard Alicia begin with a hint of mischief in her tone.

“Yes Alicia?” I asked as I turned in my bed to face her.

“How’s George?” She asked with a large grin spread across her face.

I could feel that suddenly all too familiar sense of heat spreading across my cheeks. I cleared my throat before I could respond.

“He- he’s good. Him and Fred both are doing very well.” I tried to deflect back to both twins so I could hopefully avoid any telling questions.

“Oh, well I’m glad to hear they’re both doing so well.” She smirked and gave me a wink before lying down.

“Between you and Angelina I don’t know who I should be more worried about with the George questions. No more though! He’s my best friend!” I shouted before turning over and pulling the blankets over my head.

“Whatever you say Eve! We’ll believe you.” Angelina said before I heard both her and Alicia giggled.

“And hey you don’t hear me randomly asking about Lee do you?” I aimed at Alicia from under the blankets, which elicited a laugh from Angelina.

“Goodnight ladies!” I smiled as I got comfortable under my blankets once again as I fell asleep.

\-----------------------------

The first few weeks back were fairly uneventful. Potions, which was usually unbearable due to Snape’s perpetually sour mood, was actually somewhat fun I found because I ended up having it with George, Fred, Angelina, and Lee. Defense Against the Dark Arts was easily becoming my favorite class, though I may have a bias due to the professor. Speaking of which, my father was doing an amazing job as the Dark Arts teacher which was a welcome change from the past two years. Dad was actually able to obtain a Boggart which had been hiding in Filch’s filing cabinet for us to practice our Riddikulus charms on, which turned out to be rather fun. He informed me when I saw him later that evening what happened when he was teaching it to Harry’s year. Which led to him expressing his concerns that the Boggart would take the shape of Voldemort when facing Harry.

I currently sat on my bed, finishing up my assignments for the week so I could enjoy the upcoming weekend. I wanted to finish up while George, Fred, and Angelina were at quidditch practice and I wouldn’t be distracted. It would be the first official Hogsmeade visit of the year tomorrow. Of course, George, Fred, and I had already made a few secret trips using one of the secret passageways but I was still excited. I finished my last bit of writing for History of Magic and cleaned up for the night. It felt good to not have to worry about any more work for the weekend. I sat back and fidgeted with the locket in my hand. So far I still hadn’t figured out what the secret to it was and I had just about given up. I stared down at it and let out a sigh as I began to unlatch the side. No harm in looking again. As I opened it and looked at where I expected the words Girls Dormitory to be, my breath caught in my throat at what I saw. The words Quidditch Pitch were now scribed into the locket.

“What?” I asked the empty room as I continued to stare down at the words. The pace of my heart quickened as my thoughts shifted immediately to the boy I knew would currently be on the quidditch pitch.  
“It can’t be.” I whispered once more to the empty room. I quickly stood from my bed, throwing on my shoes and sweater before heading out of the girls dormitory.  
Glancing at the clock in the common room I noted the time, quidditch practice should have been almost over. I made my way out of the common room and down down from Gryffindor Tower towards the quidditch pitch all while holding my open locket. I ran down the halls and out onto the path that led down to the pitch. As I made my way closer and closer, I began to be passed by Gryffindor students which queued me that practice had in fact just finished. As I slowed to a walk, I glanced at my open locket again which now held the words Changing Room. I began to run once again toward the changing room. I was almost there when I saw George making his way out while opening what appeared to look like some kind of pocket watch which I thought was odd. I had never seen him with it before. I stopped dead in my tracks as I watched him stare down at the object in his hand until I watched a look of confusion spread across his face. His head then snapped up as he began to look around but his eyes almost immediately locked with mine.

I bit my lip anxiously as I slowly began to walk toward him. He ended up meeting me half-way with a nervous expression.

“I figured it out. Finally.” I smiled shyly up at him.

George’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed before speaking. “I was beginning to wonder if you ever would.” His cheeks were tinted red as he offered me a soft smile.

“Why didn’t you tell me that’s what it meant originally?” I asked him.

“I didn’t want it to sound- I don’t know, creepy? ‘Hey Genevieve, here’s this necklace so you can always know where I am and hey I have one too so I can find you’? Because that doesn’t sound mental at all obviously.” He let out a huff as he drug his fingers nervously through his hair.

I stared up at him with surprise etched on my face. “You have one too?” I quickly realized what he had said and couldn’t help the smile that had made its way back onto my face. “So you’d be able to know where I was?”

“See! That’s what I am talking about. I Sound like an absolute nutter! Evie, you don’t have to wear it anymore if you don’t want to. It was a stupid, weird idea and-” I cut off his rambling by jumping up and wrapping my arms around his neck in a tight hug. He was momentarily caught off guard before his arms wrapped around me and I was lifted off the ground.

“I’m not taking it off, you nutter.” I laughed as he lowered me back down so my feet were once again touching the ground and I removed my arms from around his neck. “I love it even more now Georgie. Still the best gift I have ever gotten.” 

He smiled shyly while he reached out his hand toward me which held the matching pocket watch. I gently took it and carefully examined it. I noticed it had a complimentary pattern on the outside to that of my locket. I opened it and sure enough one side held the watch face and the other side held the words Changing Room Entrance. I closed it and gently placed it back into his hand before I leaned up and gently kissed his cheek.

“Thank you Georgie. Will you walk back to the common room with me?”

“Of course Evie. I’m glad you’re not angry with me.” He replied as we began walking back toward Gryffindor Tower. 

“Definitely not. It was very sweet.” I smiled and then slapped him on the shoulder.

“Ow! Hey! What was that for?” He asked while rubbing his shoulder.

“Lying to me!” I raised my eyebrows as I waited for his response.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry!” He stated seriously before I saw a small smile begin to make its way onto his face.

“Okay. You better be.” We walked for a moment in comfortable silence before I got the courage to ask my next question.

“So, um- was there a specific reason you wanted me to have it?” I asked just loud enough for him to hear.

I watched as his eyes shifted nervously away from me before he spoke. “Oh uh- no, nope, no specific reason. I uh- just thought it looked like you, and this way we wouldn’t have to ask all over the place when we are trying to find each other.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and cleared his throat once again before looking back at me.

I tried to hide the disappointment I felt at his answer but what should I have been expecting? Of course that’s why he got it for me. Nothing more.

“Oh, okay. Yeah, of course. That makes sense.”  
We changed the subject quickly to how quidditch practice went. I didn't want to linger on how it felt to hear his answer.

That night I laid in bed once again with thoughts consumed by George Weasley. I’m just his best friend. That is it. He is one of the most important people to me and I would be damned if I let a silly crush ruin that. Once more I drifted to sleep, unable to rid myself of the thought that invaded, ‘but what if he does feel the same as I do for him?’


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I guess Ron is right actually. We are sort of like family.” Harry spoke softly, looking up at me from his spot on the floor.
> 
> “I guess he is. I wouldn’t mind having you as a cousin.”
> 
> “You would be the first cousin I had that I actually liked.” Harry laughed and stood up to come over to sit next to me on the couch.
> 
> I laughed and turned to face him on the couch. “I already feel the need to look after you like you’re my family.”
> 
> Harry smiled and held out his hand for me to shake. “Family?”
> 
> I smiled and pushed his hand away before pulling him into a hug. “Family.”

There is a full moon tonight so naturally when this time comes, I worry. I worry about my father and how he is doing almost the entire night. He always tells me not to and that everything will be fine, and it usually is, but as his daughter I can’t help it. This time he is worried as well though, but for me. Only a few days ago Sirius Black was not only in the castle, but inside Gryffindor Tower. That alone made my father hate the idea of being completely unable to be there for me if anything were to happen. He has always checked in with me the day before so he can make sure I will be okay and taken care of, this time was the most anxious he has ever been about leaving. It was me who had to tell him everything would be okay this time, and not to worry. He spoke with Fred and George as well about keeping an eye out for me which I think settled his nerves a bit, knowing I wouldn’t be alone.

When I was growing up, he always told me how happy he was that I never exhibited any signs of lycanthropy. Dad told me so many stories of what it was like for him to attend Hogwarts as a student and having to hide what he was at the same time. He thanked Merlin I wouldn’t have to go through what he did. I guess it’s no surprise that at this point I know just about everything there is to know about werewolves, though it would seem strange to almost anyone that I do. Therefore I don’t make a habit of letting people know I am so well informed.

I knew today George and Fred were going to be trying to keep my spirits lifted and try to distract me as best as they could, which they usually did a pretty good job of whenever this day (and night) would come around. I wasn’t surprised the twins were already waiting for me when I entered the common room. I smiled solemnly at them as they both held out an elbow for me to take. I linked one arm with Fred and one arm with George.

“Let’s go get some breakfast shall we?” George asked as he gave me a soft smile.

“Yes please.” I responded and we made our way from Gryffindor Tower and down to the Great Hall.

The boys were full of jokes all morning and stories from when we were younger. They were doing an amazing job of keeping my mind off of my father and making me smile. Things were going great up until Defense Against the Dark Arts. Snape had been asked to fill in for my father. I would have been fine with absolutely anyone other than Snape, I already had to deal with his disdain for me in Potions, now this as well.

Snape had made it very clear to me from my first year that he disliked me and detested my father. I guess you could say they were something like enemies when they attended Hogwarts. According to my father, Sirius, James, and him weren’t necessarily all that nice to him but Snape wasn’t an angel either. Harry and I had many conversations about who Snape hated more but quickly determined his attitude toward Harry was just a tad worse than how he acted toward me, which was saying something. So I could already tell things were not going to go well and to top it off my father was given the very job Snape had been after for so long.

I let out a quiet groan toward George and Fred upon seeing Snape at the front of the class. They both gave me sympathetic looks and then smiled a little.

“Look at it this way Evie, I doubt it will be any worse than it usually is when we’re in potions.” Fred leaned over and nudged me with his elbow.

I rolled my eyes and looked up at him incredulously. “Thanks Fred, that really lightens the mood.”

Fred shrugged and let out a small chuckle as we made our way to our seats. George ended up sitting beside me and Fred at the table next to him. I sat my text book on the table and looked impatiently up at Snape who scanned the students until his glare landed on me.

Snape pulled down the projector screen and made his way to the projector. “Turn to page 394.” 

“As cheery as ever.” I whispered to George as I flipped through my textbook. My breath caught in my throat as I landed on the aforementioned page. My disbelief was soon replaced with anger as my hand which rested nearest to George clenched into a fist. George and Fred looked from their books and over to me with the same look of disbelief I had only moments ago. Snape knew exactly what he was doing. I raised my hand though quickly put it down as I had no intention of actually waiting for Snape to address me. “Professor, I know your specialty is in potions and you aren’t as proficient in the Defense Against the Dark Arts so I thought maybe I should mention that we aren’t currently learning about werewolves, nowhere near this section actually.”

Snape turned to face me with a familiar look of disgust.  
“Frankly, Miss Lupin I do not care what your father has been teaching you and since he currently finds himself indisposed, I have taken it upon myself to choose the topic of discussion for today.” Snape sneered as he turned his attention toward the projector, pointing his wand in its direction it began to scroll through various artwork depicting werewolves over time.  
“Now, can anyone tell me the difference between an Animagus and a Werewolf?” He paused for a moment as he strolled passed those in the front row until he once again narrowed his focus on me. “Miss Lupin, since you have been so loquacious today, why don’t you give us the answer, hm?”

I couldn’t hide the look of irritation that made its way to my face as I glared toward Snape. For a moment I offered him only silence.

“Well Miss Lupin? I am waiting.”

My fist resting on the desk clenched even tighter and I could feel my nails beginning to dig into my skin. “An Animagus can turn at will. A Werewolf has no choice.” I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t say anything to get myself into further trouble.

“Correct Miss Lupin. Ten points from Gryffindor.” He grumbled out before turning to make his way back to the front.

“For what? She gave you the right answer!” George uttered in irritation.

“Five points Mr. Weasley, and I will see both of you in detention.” Snape glared before he continued on with his lesson.

I held a glare up at Snape until I finally let out the breath I had been holding. I turned my head to look at George and reached over to give his hand which rested next to mine a small squeeze in thanks. When I began to move my hand away, George quickly grabbed it and laced his fingers with mine as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I blushed and looked back over at him with a confused expression. He gave me a small smirk before turning to whisper something to Fred.

Detention went by quickly that night. Turned out that when George and Fred were whispering to each other during Defense, they were plotting on how to get Snape with a Dungbomb which turned out to be very successful, which then led to a detention for Fred as well. As soon as Snape left, we used the secret passageway out of the detention room that we found out about our first year (which became incredibly useful) and headed back to our common room for the night. 

My father’s transformation ended up going perfectly fine as per usual that night. He got word to me the next morning as he usually did, that everything went fine and that he was okay. I immediately felt better once I had heard from him, though I knew he would be okay but it was nice to have that confirmation. Later in the day I went to cheer on the twins, Angelina, and Harry in the quidditch match which was usually one of my favorite activities. I hadn’t missed a single one of Fred and George’s matches since our first year and I was planning on keeping that record. This particular match however, did not end well. The Dementors ended up attacking Harry once again which led to all of us circled around his bed in the hospital wing. Ron, Hermione, and I were terrified when we saw him fall but luckily he ended up being mostly fine.I talked to my dad the next day and he told me he may begin teaching Harry the Patronus charm since the Dementors seem to fancy him so much. I was able to convince him to teach me, with the idea that it could protect me and I would maybe be able to help Harry as well but not until after the Christmas break.

\--------------------

Christmas break had quickly approached and tomorrow most students would be headed back home. I was going to be staying at Hogwarts with my father, Fred, and George. I was pretty excited for that and we have a running tradition to always open our presents from one another on Christmas Eve and I didn’t want to miss it.

George, Fred and I wandered down to the Black Lake and sat down at the base of a nearby tree. 

“I’ve been thinking…” Fred began as he looked between George and I.

“Well that’s a shock. Are you okay Freddie? Your head hurt at all?” I said sarcastically and bit back a smile while George let out a laugh. Fred plucked up a handful of grass and threw it at me. I batted it away and flicked some off of the front of my sweater.  
“Oh you know I’m only joking. Go on, whatcha been thinkin?” I leaned back against the tree and exchanged a small smile with George.

“Okay smart-arse, what if we gave the map to Harry?” Fred questioned looking from me to George.

“That is actually a really good idea Freddie.” George said, nodding then looking at me. “What do you think Evie?”

“I like it. He’d be able to sneak into Hogsmeade that way. We already have all the secret passageways memorised by now so I’d say why not?” I shrugged and stood up.  
“I need to go wrap my presents for you two, so why don’t you find Harry and give him the map?”

Fred and George hopped up and brushed themselves off.

“That sounds like a good idea to me. Though I really want to know what you got me, I’m sure George is even more intrigued.” Fred raised his eyebrows and smirked before he pulled the Marauder’s Map out of his pocket to search it for Harry’s footsteps.

George stepped closer to me while Fred focused on the map. His eyes lowered to meet mine and slowly he reached his hand up to pick some pieces of grass out of my hair. “There we go. Perfect.” He murmured as he pulled the last piece out and gently smoothed my hair.

I felt my cheeks warm ever so slightly as he gave me a small crooked smile.

“Found him!” Fred shouted as he looked up from the map. “Lets go George!” George gently let his hands fall away from me as he moved in the direction of his brother.

“Alright, I’ll see you boys later then.” I waved and started in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. “Oh and if I need you, I’ll know where to find you.” I shot George a wink while patting my locket on my chest before I turned and walked toward the castle.

I had smiled to myself as I made my way to the common room to wrap their presents.

Later that day I sat in the common room, and finished wrapping the last of my presents. I was about the only one in the common room since most people were still out enjoying their last day before break or up in their dormitories packing. Suddenly Harry, Hermione, and Ron came walking into the common room, Hermione came over to sit next to me. I looked over at Harry who looked rather upset as him and Ron followed after Hermione and settled on the ground in front of the fireplace.

“You alright Harry? What happened?” I sat up from the couch and looked from Harry to the other two and back to Harry.

Harry looked from me and scanned the empty room before looking between his two best friends, his eyes landing on Hermione as if asking her a silent question.

“Tell her Harry, she might be the perfect person to talk to about it.” Hermione said with a reassuring nod.

Harry nodded and led into a whole story of what he overheard after the twins had given him the map and he snuck into Hogsmeade. He ended up sneaking into The Three Broomsticks and heard not only that Sirius Black was the one who betrayed his parents to He Who Must Not Be Named but Sirius was also Harry’s godfather. I looked at him in shock, I never realized no one had ever told him who Sirius Black really was or why he was in danger. 

“Harry… I’m so sorry. It never occurred to me that you wouldn’t know.”

“Genevieve? You knew?” Hermione asked in shock. 

Harry and Ron sat with looks of confusion on their faces as they waited for my response.

I slowly nodded to Hermione before I turned back to face Harry. “My dad told me the story a couple of years ago. He was and is afraid Sirius Black would be a danger to me too.”

“A danger to you too? Why would he come after you?” Harry asked, as confused as ever.

“Because of who my father is… Harry, has my father had a chance to talk to you at all about your parents?” I asked before taking a deep breath as I waited for his answer.

“No, he hasn’t. Though we haven’t talked much really either.”

“They were all best friends, my father, your parents, Sirius, and Peter Pettigrew.” I bit my lip and looked at Hermione, then Ron, then back to Harry. “Harry... my full name is Genevieve Lily Lupin. That’s not a coincidence. I was named after your mother. Your parents were my godparents.” I paused as I looked at Harry. His eyes had left mine and he was looking at the floor deep in thought.

“You knew my parents?” He asked as his eyes came back up to meet mine.

“I mean, yeah I did. I don’t really remember them though, I was so young. My father has pictures of all of us. Some of just you and me, and some of you, me, my dad, and your mom and dad as well and... Sirius.” I said the last part quietly.

“Bloody hell.” Ron muttered, staring back and forth between the two of us.

“Ronald!” Hermione said in an exasperated tone. 

“What? This is amazing! You two are sort of family and you had no idea!’ Ron spoke excitedly.

Hermione rolled her eyes before standing up and grabbing Ron’s arm, tugging him to his feet. “Let’s go Ronald. They should be able to discuss this without your valuable input.” Ron huffed as Hermione pulled him out of the common room.

Harry looked back to me and smiled which I quickly returned, mostly happy he didn’t seem to be upset with me. 

“I guess Ron is right actually. We are sort of like family.” Harry spoke softly, looking up at me from his spot on the floor.

“I guess he is. I wouldn’t mind having you as a cousin.”

“You would be the first cousin I had that I actually liked.” Harry laughed and stood up to come over to sit next to me on the couch.

I laughed and turned to face him on the couch. “I already feel the need to look after you like you’re my family.”

Harry smiled and held out his hand for me to shake. “Family?”

I smiled and pushed his hand away before pulling him into a hug. “Family.”

We sat on the couch for quite some time. We talked a lot about both of our worries about Sirius Black. It was actually really nice to talk to someone about it that was experiencing the same thing. We also ended up talking a lot about his parents and I told him some of the stories my father told me about their time at Hogwarts and some of the trouble they got into. We continued to talk until the twins came walking into the common room. They both walked over, Fred jumped over the back of the couch to sit between us and George leaned over the back to rest his head on my shoulder. 

“Oh what is going on over here, hm?” Fred asked, looking between the two of us.

I laughed and shoved Fred over so he fell into Harry. “Shove off Fred. I told him.”

George moved his head on my shoulder to look at me. “You mean you told him.”

I nodded and looked back to Harry with a smile.

“Fred and George knew too?” Harry asked.

“Of course these two nutters knew. They’re my best friends. I would trust them with my life.” I smiled widely, looking at George and then to Fred.

Fred smiled and scrunched up his nose before pulling me into a hug. “Aw look at you Genevieve. So sweet. So cheesy.” Fred laughed as I pushed him away. 

“You ruined it.” I told Fred while shaking my head.

George moved to sit on the arm of the couch and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “What this git meant to say was that we feel the exact same way. Though he is right, that was a bit cheesy.” He chuckled as I softly elbowed him in his side.

The rest of the night was really nice. We all sat and talked about anything and everything and soon Ron and Hermione rejoined the group. Hermione and I started talking about Hagrid and Buckbeak as well, who due to that git Malfoy, was possibly facing execution. We spent the rest of the night trying to come up with a defense for Buckbeak. We also decided we would go as a group to check on Hagrid and let him know what we put together.

Christmas soon arrived and I actually had an amazing day, two amazing days counting Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve I went down to Hagrid’s with Hermione, Harry, and Ron. I brought him some treats for Fang and a small wooden dragon figurine I had picked up in Hogsmeade since I figured he could use something to cheer him up even just a bit. Later that evening I had dinner with Fred and George and then we went back to the common room to exchange gifts. Fred had gotten me a large bag of candy from Honeydukes and George had gotten me a bottle of perfume. It smelled like vanilla with hints of orange and coffee and I absolutely loved it. I immediately spritzed some on myself and it was my new favorite perfume. On Christmas day I opened a present from Molly which was of course a dark green sweater with a gold ‘G’ on the front of it. I immediately pulled it on with a smile and left to meet my father. We had dinner together and exchanged small gifts. I had made my father a new scarf since he always insisted I not spend anything on a present for him so I had to be creative over the years. He gave me a brand new copy of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection since he knows my favorite subjects have always been charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, I was so excited. I told him everything I had talked about with Harry about Sirius and his parents. Dad was happy to know we had a nice talk and that Harry and I had gotten so close and he told me he planned on having a talk with Harry about his parents as well.

\--------------------

Everyone had soon returned to Hogwarts and the new term was in full swing. I was wearing my new perfume daily and had already read completely through my new book in my free time between assignments, watching the twins at quidditch practice, and Partonus lessons with my father and Harry.

I sat in the common room with Fred and George, discussing ideas for possible joke products. The twins were getting more and more into the idea of having their own shop one day so I had taken to helping them create sketches and jot down notes. They had talked to me also about using my skills with charms for some products which I was excited about. I was really proud of them for having such a large goal they were working toward and of course I would help them accomplish it however I could. I was currently creating a sketch for a design of a telescope that would punch the user in the eye when used. It was just a rough idea but I loved it and there were so many possibilities for it. We were talking about ideas of what to add to it and what it should be called when Percy walked in.

“Genevieve? I need to speak with you.” Percy called from the doorway with his usual serious tone.

I turned and looked toward him with a furrowed brow.

“Oh no George, seems like our dear friend Eve here is in trouble.” Fred nudged his brother with a smirk. 

“It would seem so. Have you been getting into trouble without us?” George clutched his chest while putting on a heartbroken look.

I pushed them both away with a grin as I stood up. “What is it Percy?” I asked while walking toward him. 

“I was asked to tell you your father would like to speak to you as soon as possible. I don’t know what it is in regards to but it sounded serious, so you best make your way to his office.” Percy waited for me to move, but before I walked toward the portrait hole I looked back at George and Fred. They returned an equally confused expression and I shrugged before making my way out of the room.

Upon my arrival, I lightly knocked on the door of my dad’s office and waited to hear a response.

“Come in Genevieve.” My father spoke just loudly enough for me to hear. 

Hearing my father use my whole name, I immediately knew I was in trouble for something. I slowly turned the door knob and made my way inside. As I walked closer to my father, I immediately recognized what he was holding and he could tell.

“Genevieve, are you familiar with this item?” He held up the map which at the moment looked like a simple piece of parchment. I 

I looked up from the map to meet my father’s eyes. My dad was just about one of the only people I could not hide anything from. He could read me like a book so there was no point in lying. “I may be familiar.”

“Genevieve Lily Lupin, do you realize the repercussions that could have followed had this map fallen into the wrong hands? Perhaps the hands of Sirius Black?” It had been some time since I had seen my father so upset.

I looked at him with an expression of concern. “Dad, I am sorry. I wasn’t thinking about it like that. We shouldn’t have given it to Harry.”

“We?” My father asked with raised eyebrows.

“Shit…” I muttered under my breath. “Uh- I meant I. Just me. No one else.” I rambled though there was little point.

“I should not be surprised Fred and George were in on this as well.” My father shook his head as he took a seat. “Do you at least understand why I will be holding onto this for now?”

“Yes dad, I do. I get now that it could have been dangerous, especially for Harry. We just wanted him to be able to get into Hogsmeade but I should have taken Black into consideration and I didn’t so I apologise.” I looked at my father seriously, waiting for his reaction.

“It’s alright Eve. I just needed to explain how serious of a situation it could have caused. Thank you for telling me the truth. How did it end up with you and the twins anyway?”

I couldn’t help the smile that was brought to my face as I thought back to first year with the twins. “Our first year, we were in Filch’s office because he had confiscated some of our Dungbombs and I guess you could say we happened upon it. Took us some time to figure out though. Some really smart charm work went into that dad, or should I say...Moony.” I smirked as I looked at my dad, knowing full well now who its creators were since my dad seemed to also be so familiar with the parchment. 

He shook his head and tried his best to hide a smile that threatened its way onto his lips. “Not a clue what you are on about.” He affirmed while he took the map and stored it in his desk. “So much like your father you are.” He chuckled and leaned back in his chair.

“Oh now I haven’t a clue what you are on about.” I gave him a cheeky smile and made my way toward the door. I stopped before opening it and turned back to face him. “Anything else father?”

“No Eve, have a goodnight and please try to stay out of too much trouble.”

“I’ll try dad, but you know I can’t promise anything.”

“Eve…” He said in a warning tone but I knew there was an underlying tone of mockery.

“I know, I know. Have a goodnight father!” I smiled and waved before running out and making my way back to Gryffindor Tower. I had so much to tell George and Fred, and oh would they be surprised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not as much fluff in this one but I have some more planned for the next chapter so look forward to that. Had to build some plot with this one. Hope you liked!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He brought one hand up to gently push a piece of hair back behind my ear before cupping my cheek softly. “Thank you Evie. Honestly, you have no clue what this means to me.”
> 
> I swallowed the lump that had grown in my throat as I watched his eyes travel over my face. “You’re welcome.” I whispered back as my hands now rested on his leg that was closest to me. He slowly started to lean in and I felt the tip of his nose brush mine as my eyes fluttered closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one packed full of events. I wanted to wrap up PoA to get to all that I have planned for the GoF timeline. Hope you enjoy!

The last few months had been fairly uneventful. There had been no further sightings of Sirius Black which was nice but also worrisome. My father had continued to give lessons on the Patronus Charm to Harry and I. It was going well for both of us and over the last few months we both had improved greatly since the first week we had started. Harry and I had finally been able to cast incorporeal Patronus’ a few weeks ago which dad was very impressed with. It was definitely one of the most difficult spells if not the most difficult I had ever learned. We had started working toward corporeal Patronus’ now which proved to be even more difficult but I could feel I was getting so close. Dad gave me homework to try to come up with a stronger happy memory if I could and I didn’t know if that was possible but I told him I would try. 

In the meantime, today was March 31st which meant I was now 16 years old. I awoke unexpectedly to the feeling of Angelina and Alicia jumping on my bed. 

“Get up Eve!” Angelina shouted as they continued to jump up and down on my mattress.

I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes. “I will get up as soon as you two get off my bed!” I grumbled as I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

“Happy birthday Eve!” The two girls shouted in unison.

“Thanks you two, but I am sure there had to have been a more peaceful way of waking me up.” I glared up at them until I couldn’t hold it anymore and I broke into a smile.

“Well I think it worked pretty well.” Alicia giggled before she sat down on her own bed.

I stretched out before I threw my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. I walked over to where Strix now sat on his perch to feed him some treats and rub his head. “Why is it I need to be woken up yet anyways?” I turned to look over at the two girls.

“Oh, that would be because when we went downstairs Fred and George were already waiting for you so they sent us back up here to wake you.” Angelina spoke while a smirk made its way to her face. “George looked especially anxious.” 

I turned around to my wardrobe to hide the blush that crept onto my face. “So bloody impatient those two.” I said with a smile as I got dressed. I fixed my hair and sprayed on some of my perfume. “Thank you ladies.”

All three of us left our room and headed downstairs. As we made it to the last steps, Angelina and Alicia quickly hurried out of the way and into the common room as two identical redheads came barreling toward me. I groaned as I was suddenly sandwiched between them in a hug. Fred broke away to set off some fireworks and I let out a laugh as I watched several of the younger students jump in shock and cover their ears. 

“Happy birthday Evie!” Fred shouted then nodded at his brother with a knowing smirk.

George still had an arm around me as he used his free hand to pull out his wand. “Hold out your hands.” George whispered in my ear while holding up his wand.  
I tilted my head to gaze up at him then I smiled and held out my hands in front of me with my palms facing up. “Orchideous”, he said softly while flourishing his wand in the direction of my hands. Suddenly a bouquet of flowers appeared in my arms and I smiled widely up at him. “Happy birthday Evie.”

“Did you master that spell just for me George?” I whispered to him. I bit my lip as he smirked and gave a small nod. 

He was trying to keep his cool but I couldn’t help but notice the blush that painted itself on his cheeks as he looked at me. “There is a small possibility I may have.” 

“Oh right, more like he spent the last week working on making it absolutely perfect whenever you weren’t around.” Fred laughed as he walked back over to us.

George glared at his brother and pointed his wand at him. “I would shut it real quick if I were you.” George looked at his brother with a hint of joking in his tone.

“Okay, okay!” Fred put his hands up in surrender and laughed as George lowered his wand.

The same wide grin was still stuck on my face as I leaned in to smell the flowers while looking up at George. “They are beautiful Georgie. Thank you. I absolutely love them. Hold on while I run up and put them in my room.” I swiftly made my way back up to my room and conjured up a vase with some water and set the bouquet on my bedside table. I smiled as I gazed at them for a moment before I made my way back downstairs.

George smiled at me then looked at Fred. “Let's go down to breakfast shall we?” He asked and my stomach let out a well timed grumble in response. “I’ll take that as a yes.” George laughed and held out his elbow for me to link my arm through. 

Fred joined us and we made our way toward that portrait to head to the Great Hall. “Am I going to have to repeat the fireworks for you two tomorrow?” I asked as we wandered down the staircase.

“Oh absolutely!” Fred said excitedly.

“I would hope so!” George grinned.

I rolled my eyes and I let out a laugh. “Oh fine, I guess that can be arranged. I have the perfect idea, don’t let me forget to talk to Lee today.”

The twins looked at me with confused expressions.

“Don’t worry. It’s a surprise. I promise it won’t be too bad.” I smirked at both of them before I walked ahead into the Great Hall.

The rest of the day was fantastic. I got a letter from Molly and my father called me to his office after dinner to surprise me with a cake. Fred, George, Lee, Angelina, Alicia, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were all waiting in his office when I arrived. After we ate cake my father said goodnight and told us to have fun celebrating, “but not too much fun” before we all wandered back up to the common room. We all hung out in the common room for a few hours, talking, laughing and dancing before everyone began to head upstairs for the night. I lingered with Fred and George for a moment after everyone else. 

“Thank you for a great birthday, boys. You two better go up and get some sleep though because tomorrow it’s your turn.” 

“Looking forward to it!” George smiled before walking over and enveloping me in a hug. “I’m glad you had a good birthday.” He pulled away slightly and smiled down at me, his eyes inched down to linger on my mouth for only a moment before he brought them back up to mine and cleared his throat as he pulled away. 

Fred came over and gave me a tight hug as soon as George released me. “I’m glad you did too and I am very much so looking forward to tomorrow.” I squeezed Fred before he released me and I started toward the girls dormitory. 

“Be ready for anything boys.” I gave them a smirk before heading up the stairs to bed.

I made sure to wake up early so I could get ready to surprise Fred and George. I very quickly got out of bed and took a quick shower. After completing my morning routine, I got dressed and dug some fireworks out from where I had them hidden in my trunk. I pulled the gift I made out for them as well and set it on my bedside table next to my flowers from George. I decided I wanted to wait to give it to them until later. I gathered the fireworks and made my way down to the common room and up to George, Fred, and Lee’s dormitory. I was able to tell Lee my plan yesterday so he would be ready. 

I quietly made my way into their room and over to Lee to give him a warning. I gently shook him and he smiled as he saw me and gave me a nod as he sat up and got ready to watch what was about to unfold. I looked at where Fred and George slept in their beds. I stood between their beds and then set off the fireworks I had brought with me. Lee and I couldn’t hold back our laughter as both of the twins shot up from their beds. They looked around frantically before both pairs of eyes landed on me now standing at the ends of their beds, clutching my stomach as I laughed. “Happy birthday!” I shouted as the last few sparks from the fireworks shot off. “I told you to be ready!” I said as I walked between their two beds.

They both smiled and looked at each other before the same mischievous look crossed both their faces. “Well now the real question is, are you ready?” Fred asked with a smirk.

“For what?” I asked, staring back and forth between the two of them.

“For this!” George shouted before he quickly tackled me onto Fred’s bed which then led to Fred laying all of his weight on top of both of us so I was being effectively squished.

“Okay! Okay! I give!” I gasped out, tapping my hand on the bed until they both lifted their body weight off of me with a laugh. I caught my breath and soon joined in laughing with all three of the boys. “Well that didn’t go totally as planned but still went pretty well I think.” I smiled as I stood from the bed and smoothed out my clothes. I hadn’t realized until that moment when I looked over at George that he only had on pajama pants and his torso was completely bare. A blush quickly crept its way onto my face and my eyes lingered for just a moment too long before I cleared my throat and made my way over to the door. “Get dressed! I’ll be waiting downstairs!” I walked out quickly and shut the door behind me before leaning my back against it to regain my composure. I took a couple deep breaths and reached up to feel my cheeks before I made my way to the common room to wait for them.

After several minutes they joined me downstairs with smiling faces. “Okay so I have a present for you but I don’t think I’m going to give it to you until later.”

“Aw, bloody hell. Is this our punishment for tackling you?” Fred asked with a pout.

I laughed in response and shook my head. “No, I just want the anticipation to grow. You’ll get it later, I promise. Now let’s get on with the day.

We had a lovely breakfast and for lunch we all ate down by the lake which turned out to be a lot of fun and the weather was perfect. George and Fred received gifts from both their parents and Molly had sent a cake she had baked herself of course. We enjoyed it later in the common room while playing some Exploding Snap. We played music and a whole group of Gryffindor students once again celebrated with us. As the night went on and the crowd began to disperse once again, I ran upstairs to grab the gift that sat on my bedside table. As I made my way back downstairs I noticed only a few of us lingered. Angelina and Alicia were sitting talking with Lee and Fred. George was sitting over on the couch and Harry, Hermione, and Ron were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. I watched as George tilted his head back to laugh at something Hermione said to Ron and I felt the pace of my heartbeat race. I couldn't help the smile that came to my face as I saw how happy he looked.  
I let out the breath I was holding and slowly made my way toward the couch and plopped down beside him with the present sat on my lap. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had quickly fallen into their own separate conversation to allow us some privacy which I was very thankful for at the moment.

The smile on George’s face grew as he looked over at me upon feeling the couch dip. His eyes traveled from my face, down to the gift sitting in my lap. “Is that for me?”

I nodded and gently set the gift on his lap. “Technically it’s for you and Fred.” I smiled as I looked over to see Angelina giggling at whatever Fred was saying to her. I turned back to face George. “I don’t think he would mind if you opened it on your own though.”

George looked over to where Fred was sitting and chuckled. “No I don’t think he would.” He smiled at me before he tore open the packaging, producing a small sketchbook. He looked back up to me quizzically while holding it.

“Go on then. Look inside.” I urged through shaky breaths. I was nervous to get his reaction. I had been working on it for quite a while.

George brought his attention back to the book and gently opened to the front page. His look of confusion soon shifted as I watched his jaw drop open. “Genevieve…” He stared at the page a moment longer before flipping through the next few. I had been thinking a lot about what their shop could look like when they finally would be able to open it so in my free time I started sketching some design ideas. I had several sketches of packaging designs for some of the products they had started to talk about inventing and the final pages were some designs for the shop itself. I had put a great deal of thought into it all. George had finally settled on the last sketch which was my design for what the outside of the shop could look like with lots of bright colors and a large figure that resembled the both of them. “Are these…?” George began as he continued flipping back through the drawings.

“I uh- yeah, I just had some design ideas I thought you both might like. I’m just- I believe in you both so much and I just want to help encourage your dream. I thought this might make it a little more real.” I swallowed nervously before bringing my eyes up from the book to meet his own. 

His eyes looked watery as he stared into mine. “Evie…” He took a settling breath before he continued. “This might be the absolute best gift anyone could have ever given me… us.” He quickly sat the book gently to the side and pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him tightly as I melted into his arms. I gently felt him tuck his chin down before his lips pressed softly against my forehead. I felt chills travel down my spine as a result and let out another shaky breath as I tilted my head to look up at him. His eyes were filled with an emotion I wasn’t sure I recognized as he gazed down at me. I could feel his breath falling softly upon my face. He brought one hand up to gently push a piece of hair back behind my ear before cupping my cheek softly. “Thank you Evie. Honestly, you have no clue what this means to me.”

I swallowed the lump that had grown in my throat as I watched his eyes travel over my face. “You’re welcome.” I whispered back as my hands now rested on his leg that was closest to me. He slowly started to lean in and I felt the tip of his nose brush mine as my eyes fluttered closed. 

“Hey Eve-” Fred shouted as he ran over to the couch, but he stopped short upon seeing George and I jump apart frantically.

I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath so that I wouldn’t kill him for interrupting what may have possibly been the best moment of my life. I can’t kill him on his birthday, I thought to myself. When I finally opened them I realized the trio that previously was sitting on the floor must have headed up to bed. As I glanced back over to George, I noticed his chest was rising and falling rapidly and his face was flushed bright red as he preoccupied himself with the gift that he had sat next to us. Did he want something to happen as badly as I did? We were so close, damn it Fred. 

“Oh uh well…” Fred rubbed the back of his neck, clearly realizing he interrupted something. “I was gonna check in on that present of yours since I was thinking about heading up to bed here soon.” He gave me a small smile as if silently asking for forgiveness. 

I let out a sigh before returning his smile. “Well since you were preoccupied with Angelina…” I smirked at him before continuing. “I let George go ahead and open it. Come sit and look.” I motioned him over. 

George scooted closer to me to make room for Fred and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. 

“Freddie look at this!” George said excitedly as he held the book out to Fred. 

Fred took the book from George and began slowly flipping through it in wonder. George turned to grin at me upon watching Fred’s reaction. I bit my lip and slowly leaned my head on his shoulder as I continued to watch Fred anxiously. He was incredibly quiet which was definitely not at all normal for him. Suddenly he stood up and walked around his brother to stand in front of where I sat on the couch. He quickly grabbed my hands and pulled me up into a tight hug. “Evie, this is brilliant!” I laughed as he shook me back and forth before depositing me back on the couch. He looked back at the book in his hand and then to his brother. “Absolutely wicked!” 

“Well, I’m just really glad you two like it. I had a lot of ideas and I thought it would be nice to give them to you. I really want you both to have your dream one day.” I smiled from Fred to George. 

They both embraced me once again before we fell into conversation over the shop they could have one day. When I finally made it up to bed, I was absolutely exhausted. My thoughts entirely focused on what could have happened tonight with George if Fred hadn’t interrupted. I finally realized just how badly I wanted to kiss George and we had been so close, just a few inches. I really need to get a hold of myself but I couldn’t lie to myself any longer. After tonight it was obvious to me, I had absolutely fallen for George Weasley. 

A couple weeks after the twins birthday was the last quidditch game of the year. It was between Gryffindor and Slytherin and would decide the winner of the Quidditch Cup. Gryffindor was able to beat Slytherin and win the cup with a final score of 230 to 20. All of Gryffindor was ecstatic and we had a huge celebration in Gryffindor Tower later on. As far as things between George and I, they hadn’t progressed any further and we ended up having no time alone together which wasn’t completely odd since it was rather rare to begin with but I couldn’t help but hope. It seemed for the moment it just wasn’t in the cards. 

————————

The entire month of May went by in the blink of an eye. The only time I got to spend alone with George was in detention and that was only twice during the whole month. I could have sworn I caught him staring at me randomly through the days. The first time I remember was while we were in potions and as soon as my eyes met his, he shifted to stare at Snape which was odd in itself since he tried to avoid looking at Snape if he could help it. I thought it happened again when I was studying for exams with Alicia and Angelina. I had forced George and Fred to come to the library and study with us and I was already helping the girls with Charms and Defense so I figured they might as well listen even though they didn’t think they needed to study at all. I caught George staring when I was explaining something to Angelina that she didn’t understand in Defense, I looked over at him and I don’t think he realized I was looking back at him for long enough that he definitely knew I saw him and that’s when him and Fred decided it was time to run off with Lee. 

Exams were finished now and I think they actually went really well for myself at least. I felt I had done the best in Charms, Defense, and Care of Magical Creatures but I wasn't as confident on the rest though I don’t believe I did terribly. We would have to wait and see. 

It was currently after dinner and I sat in the far corner of the Gryffindor common room. Tonight was another full moon and I hadn’t seen my father since this morning in charms and that worried me. I had checked his classroom, his office, and his chambers and I couldn’t find him anywhere so now I was a bundle of nerves. I sat staring out the window as I picked nervously at my cuticles. My father never missed checking in with me before a transformation and that left me terrified. I hadn’t seen the twins since I left after dinner to look for my father but now I really needed to talk to them.  
Just as I was about to open my locket to check where George was, I heard his familiar laugh as he entered the room with Fred and Lee. Lee was the first to see me over by the window and quickly pointed me out to Fred and George. The smiles on both their faces fell as they took in my disheveled appearance. I watched as Fred told Lee they would catch up with him later and he headed up to their dorm. The twins quickly came over to me where identical looks of concern. George crouched in front of the chair I was sitting in and rested a hand on my knee. I tried to ignore the butterflies I felt at the most contact I had felt from him in a month, as my thoughts continued to be consumed with worry over my father.  
I saw Fred sit in the chair next to me out of my peripheral. 

“Evie, what’s wrong?” George asked, giving my knee a comforting squeeze. 

My bottom lip quivered and I could feel the pressure of oncoming tears threaten at the back of my eyes. “I’m scared.” 

Fred placed a hand on my shoulder and furrowed his brow. “What happened?” He asked urgently. 

I took in a wavering breath before I began. “I haven’t seen my dad since this morning. He didn’t check in with me at all and when I went to see if I could find him before he left for… you know… he wasn’t anywhere to be found.” A single tear finally escaped and rolled down my cheek. “He has never missed meeting me before a full moon. I have a horrible feeling something has happened and I can’t shake it.” I glanced around the room quickly, but no one was around. “He has been distracted the last few days. I don’t know what about but I’m terrified.” More tears rolled down my cheeks and I couldn’t hold them in any longer. 

George quickly wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. That was all the comfort I needed to let a small sob leave my throat. I felt Fred softly petting my head. “It’s going to be okay Eve.” Fred spoke softly. 

I leaned back from George’s chest to look at Fred. “We don’t know that Fred! We don’t even know where he is!” I looked quickly around the room to make sure we were still alone before I continued. “What if he hasn’t taken his Wolfsbane? Or worse what if Black has gotten to him?” I asked quieter than before. 

Fred gave me a look of understanding before he gently rubbed my back. George pulled me back against his chest as my tears continued their descent. 

After a while they led me over to sit on the couch. Fred got up after a while, my tears had finally slowed and grabbed me a glass of water. I took a few sips before I set it back down. We sat in silence for quite some time which is honestly what I needed, I just needed them here, I didn’t want to try to come up with any more ideas of what could have happened when I honestly had no idea.  
The next time I looked over to where Fred had been sitting, I realized he had fallen asleep. I looked at the clock and realized it had just struck midnight before I looked at George sitting next to me on the couch. He looked from the fire he had been staring at deep in though and over to meet my gaze. He gave me a small, sympathetic smile before he shifted so he was facing me and opened his arms.  
“Come here Genevieve.” He spoke quietly. 

I took the hint and crawled across the couch until he was able to wrap his arms around me while he leaned back so his head rested against the arm of the couch. I laid my head on his chest while he slowly rubbed circles into my back. He didn’t say anything which I was grateful for once again. I felt him kiss the top of my head and soon between the sound of his heart beating in his chest and calming circles on my back, I drifted to sleep. 

When I awoke it was still fairly dim in the room and I could hear Fred snoring from where he ended up on the floor. I looked over at the clock and saw it read 4:26. I let out a quiet groan before I realized my position. George’s arms were still wrapped around me with my head still laying on his chest. Our legs had at some point become entangled as we slept. I smiled a little as I looked up his face. He stayed with me all night and never let me go, I thought to myself as I slowly reached my hand up to his cheek. I watched as his eyes slowly fluttered open. They scanned the room quickly before settling on me, resting on top of him. 

“You stayed with me.” I said more as a statement than a question. I brushed a piece of his long hair softly off his cheek. 

“I always will.” He whispered, his voice was raspy and deeper than usual from just waking up. 

My heart felt as if it was in my throat as I held his stare. He brought his hand up from where it was resting on my waist and brought it under my chin to tilt my face up toward him. His thumb slowly traced over my bottom lip and my breath hitched in my throat as his eyes settled on my mouth. 

“Oh fuck it.” He muttered and before I could respond his lips met mine. His hand cupped my cheek as his lips worked against mine. My hands came to rest on his chest as I kissed him back. My face felt hot and I felt a shiver run from my head to my toes, it felt like an electric current pulsed through my entire body until he sadly pulled away and leaned his forehead against mine. “I’m sorry. This probably wasn’t the best time to do that.” He looked away from my eyes and down between us guiltily. 

My thoughts were suddenly brought back to my father and I sat up quickly. “My dad.” I said and looked at him with wide eyes. Suddenly the portrait to the common room opened and Professor McGonagall made her way inside. I quickly scooted my body away from George to the other side of the couch. McGonagall looked over to where we sat and noticed Fred still asleep on the floor. 

“Oh Miss Lupin and Mr. Weasley, you are just who I was coming to look for. Best wake up your brother.” She motioned from George to Fred. “I need you to come with me immediately. Ronald is in the hospital wing.”

I quickly stood up from the couch and looked at her with wide eyes while George quickly shook Fred awake and repeated what was happening. 

I smoothed out my hair as I walked around the couch quickly toward the Professor. “What happened?” I asked worriedly before I was soon joined by the twins. 

“Mr. Weasley was in a bit of an accident. He is alright mostly but he was injured. I think it's best you three see him for yourselves.” She spoke before motioning for us to follow. I glanced at George quickly before we followed her to the hospital wing. 

We were led inside the hospital wing to where Ron laid in bed with Harry and Hermione sat beside him. “What happened?” I asked worriedly as I rushed to look Ron over. According to Madam Pomfrey his leg had been broken. I looked at Hermione and Harry who looked as though they had been through hell and quickly hugged them both. “Where have you three been? Have you seen my father?” I asked quickly, looking between the three of them. 

“Eve, I think you should have a seat while we tell you this.” Hermione spoke gently. 

I nodded hesitantly and sat on the edge of the open bed next to them. They all three took turns filling me in on the events of the night. Fred and George sat on either side of me while the story unfolded. 

As it turned out, in short, Scabbers (Ron’s rat) had actually been Peter Pettigrew in Animagus form for all this time, so when everyone thought he had been killed, he had really gone into hiding because it wasn’t Sirius who had betrayed Harry’s parents to He Who Not Be Named all those years ago, it was Pettigrew. Sirius had been entirely innocent and was framed by Peter. My father had a feeling that Sirius was innocent because Harry had told him when he confiscated the map that he had seen Pettigrew on it which had been odd at the time since he was thought to be dead. That had to have been why dad had been so distracted the last few days.

I looked between the three who were now exchanging worried glances.

“Eve… your dad…” Harry began but then paused for a moment to gage my reaction.

“Where did he go? What did you see?” I asked frantically, knowing from the look on each of their faces that they must have seen him turn.

“He turned… into a werewolf. But I guess- Eve he hadn’t taken his Wolfsbane.” My eyes went wide and both George and Fred rested a hand on each of my shoulders.

“Oh no…” I stopped before looking at Harry with concern. “Did he hurt anyone?” I asked quickly.

Harry looked hesitant before responding. “None of us were hurt. The look on Snape’s face was priceless.” He gave me a small smile before he continued. “Sirius transformed into his Animagus to protect us and your dad roughed him up quite a bit but he’s okay now I promised, and in hiding. Your dad wandered off into the woods though and I haven’t seen him since then.” He said with a hint of worry in his voice.

“I have to go find him! He should be back to normal by now!” I stood abruptly and glanced around the group in a panic. I felt George stand beside me and gently grab my arm.

“Take a breath Evie. He’s probably back in his chambers or his office now. Just take a moment to calm down.” George spoke softly and reached down to give my hand a comforting squeeze.

I looked up at him before I let out a long breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and nodded. 

“Eve, I can come with you. I was going to go see if I could find him myself before you all got here.” Harry said as he stood from his chair.

Fred and George looked from Harry to me silently asking if they should come or stay with Ron. I knew Molly and Arthur would probably be arriving quite soon upon receiving word of what had happened.

I shook my head at the both of them before looking at Harry. “Yeah Harry, I don’t mind if you come with me. Probably the less people the better. I’m sure dad is feeling bad about what happened.” I looked to the twins and gave them a small smile. “You two should stay with Ron. I’m sure your parents will be here soon and would be glad to see you here with Ron when they do.”

They both responded with a nod. George slowly released my hand and my eyes lingered on his a moment before I started toward the exit with Harry.

Harry and I rushed out of the room and through the corridors to my father’s office. I was in the lead as we made it to his door and quickly threw it open before rushing inside with Harry in tow.

“Dad!” My eyes immediately landed on where my father stood, stacking books on his desk. He looked taken aback for a moment before his eyes met mine and I ran toward him to hug him tightly. He hugged me back tightly and kissed the top of my head. “Thank Merlin you’re okay. You scared the bloody hell out of me!” I spoke a little louder than necessary as I finally was able to relax upon seeing him. I pulled away to look at him and didn’t notice any horrible injuries luckily.

“I am so sorry Eve. I take it Harry here filled you in on the night I had?” He looked from me to Harry who walked farther into the room toward us. 

“Yeah he did. Why didn’t you tell me what you thought Sirius was innocent?” I asked as I remembered what had him so distracted.

“I didn’t want you putting yourself into danger trying to prove it. Especially if I had been wrong. I am sorry I caused you so much worry. I guess I should have done many things differently last night.” He looked away guiltily before looking at Harry. “No one was hurt by me were they?” He asked anxiously. 

“Not too badly. We were all okay. Sirius accidentally broke Ron’s leg but he is going to be alright and you only roughened Sirius up a bit but he is alright, I promise.” Harry told him reassuringly.

My father nodded and let out a breath in response. “Good, good. I’ll try to get in touch with Sirius and see if I can do anything to help.” He looked back at me and smiled. “I’m sure he would like to see you after all this time as well if we could figure out a meeting without him getting caught.” My father looked nostalgic as he smiled at me.

“I would like to meet him too.” I smiled at my father before a look of confusion crossed my face upon seeing his trunk packed full and his books all stacked on his desk.  
“Wait dad, what’s happening? Are you leaving Hogwarts?” 

“You’re leaving?” Harry asked, now stood beside me.

“I already gave Dumbledore my resignation. It’s for the best.” He stated firmly.

“But why? You are the best Defense teacher we have had and I’m not just saying that because you’re my father!” 

“It’s true! You are.” Harry agreed.

My father chuckled as he leaned back against his desk. “I appreciate that, but thanks to Snape, word is already going around what I am. Parents aren’t going to want their children taught by me once they know. I want to save Dumbledore the hassle. I have come to terms with my decision. It’s for the best.” 

I looked at him hesitantly for a moment before I chose to believe him/ “Okay, I understand. But I will say we are supposed to have one last Patronus lesson today.” I smiled up at him.

“Oh, I wasn’t too worried about that. Pretty sure I mastered it.” Harry chuckled beside me.

“What do you mean?” I asked him, confused.

“Well all I’ll tell you for now is that my Patronus is a stag.” Harry smirked beside me before looking at my father.

“The same as your father.” My dad said with a small smile at the memory.

Harry nodded in response and returned the smile before I smacked him on the shoulder.

“You did it? Without me?” I shouted in shock.

“Well I’m sorry. I didn’t really have a choice! It was kind of a dire situation.” He said with a hint of sarcasm before his face broke into a smile.

“Well...” my father began, bringing our attention back to him. “Have you been working on the homework I gave you? Have you thought of a happier memory Eve?” My father asked and I smiled as my thoughts immediately took me back to this morning.

I nodded in response. “Yeah, I think I have.”

“Well then sweetheart, why don’t you give it a try? That would be quite the way to finish off our lessons.” He motioned for me to pull out my wand if I was ready, as him and Harry both backed up to give me room.

I pulled my wand out of my pocket and held it in front of me. I looked at Harry who gave me a nod of encouragement and then I looked back to my father.

“You can do it Eve. Just use the strength of the memory.” He smiled and waited patiently for me to give it a try.

I faced forward and took a deep breath before closing my eyes. I immediately focused on my memory of waking up this morning. I remembered the feeling of George’s arms wrapped around me and the electricity that ran through my body when his lips met mine. I slowly released my breath as I opened my eyes and flourished my wand as I shouted, “Expecto Patronum!” I watched in awe as my Patronus took shape. An excited smile spread across my face as I watched the small silvery- blue falcon formed in front of me and flew in a circle before dissipating out of the office door. I was brought out of my awe by the sound of my father clapping.

“Well done Eve!” He was now beside me with a proud grin on his face as he squeezed my shoulders.

Harry walked over and hugged me. “Knew you could do it!”

“I would say that was definitely the perfect way to end our lessons.” I smiled widely and pulled away from Harry. “I am still going to miss having you teaching here.” I spoke in my father’s direction.

“Oh I know, but at least you will still get to see me anytime you want outside of school. I am your father after all.” He chuckled and softly patted the top of my head.

I rolled my eyes and gave him another hug.

Harry and I ended up helping my father get some of his things together before I said goodbye. He would be leaving a day before everyone else so I wouldn’t see him on the train home. He was sure to let me know he would be waiting for me on Platform 9 ¾ when I arrived however.

I was sure to fill Fred and George in on everything that we had talked about with my father and they were of course excited to learn I was able to produce a corporeal Patronus. I made sure to stop in and say goodbye to Professors McGonagall, and Flitwick and wandered down to Hagrid’s to say bye as well. I was glad to see his spirit had lifted considerably since Buckbeak was able to escape.

We were now on the Hogwarts Express heading back to London. George and I hadn’t had a chance to talk about what had happened the previous morning and I couldn’t help but smile every time we caught each other’s eyes. The trip to King’s Cross Station went by quickly. I made sure to confirm with Angelina, Alicia and Lee that we would write over summer. It was already a given the twins and I would be writing and we would most likely be seeing each other well.

As we stepped out of the train and onto the platform, I immediately spotted my dad standing and talking with Molly and Arthur. I caught his attention and waved. Dad, Molly, and Arthur waved upon seeing us all as well. I began to walk toward them but soon felt a large hand tugging me back by my hand. I turned and quickly realized it was George, giving me a nervous smile. He gave a look to Fred who then smirked between the two of us.

“I’ll let them know you’ll be along in a minute.” He winked and made off in the direction of our parents.

“What’s going on Georgie?” I asked as I turned my attention fully on him.

“Well, I know we usually hang out over the summer and everything anyways but um- I just wanted to let you know that, well dad was able to get tickets to the Quidditch World Cup in a couple months and I was wondering… if you would like to come with us- come with me?” He corrected himself and a slight blush made its way onto his cheeks as he gazed down at me.

I leaned up on my tip toes and kissed him softly on the cheek. “I would absolutely love to go with you George.”

He let out a relieved laugh and leaned down to take my trunk from my hand. “Oh thank Merlin. That was harder to ask than I meant for it to be.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Let's go meet our parents before they think we’ve gone missing, you nutter.” I nudged him playfully in the arm before we began walking toward our family. This definitely wasn’t going to be a boring summer.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I turned my attention to the twins and seemingly caught George glaring in Cedric’s direction. “Quite chummy with the enemy over there Lupin.” He said, now looking at me, a bit too seriously for my liking.
> 
> “Oh please, you two really need to get over that loss. It was almost a year ago!” 
> 
> George gave me a look I couldn’t recognize before glancing back at Cedric, then he turned his attention away from me entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried something a little new with my writing this time. Hope you like it. Some big things coming in the next couple chapters after this hopefully :)

It had officially been over a month since I had seen the Weasleys. I stayed at the burrow for a few days in July. I helped Molly with cleaning up the garden, specifically de-gnoming it which was laborious as I remembered it being. I helped the twins come up with some more ideas for joke items and we started talking about ideas for funding it. They had already started saving what they could and we had made order forms and they were planning on selling through owl post for not, until Molly found out. I also spent some time with Ginny who was proving to be quite helpful with coming up with ideas on how to get her idiot brother to make a move on me which I found sweet and quite hilarious. George had yet to make another move on me so far this summer. Given, I was only at the Burrow for a day in June and three in July but I got nothing but hugs and he rested his hand on my knee one night at the dinner table. It really wasn’t for lack of trying, I had been flirting my arse off. I knew he felt bad about the timing of our first kiss. He felt guilty that he did it when I was upset, I confirmed it with Fred since George was avoiding alone time with me at all costs it seemed. He kissed my forehead when he hugged me goodbye the last time I saw him and desperately wanted to grab him by his collar and kiss him like my life depended on it but we were surrounded by the family so it didn’t seem appropriate at the time. 

Since then I spent time with my dad and read up on everything from Charms, Dark Arts, and Creatures. I also spent some time with my grandfather. I always enjoyed listening to his stories. He knew so much interesting information about Boggarts, ghosts, poltergeists and so much more and I’ve learned a great deal from him over the years. I spent a lot of time with my dad and grandpa growing up and I never really had much of a mother figure. My grandmother died before I was born, my mother died when I was only a few months old. She had been killed toward the end of the first wizarding war by one of He Who Must Not Be Named’s followers, Fenrir Greyback. He was the same werewolf who scratched my father when he was a child. As far as I knew, he was still in hiding, and had managed to evade the Ministry countless times. If there was anyone I ever wished a slow and painful death upon, it would be him.  
The only other female figure I had when I was younger was Lily Potter and I sadly was too young to remember much about her. So after her death I didn't really have a mother in my life until I became friends with Fred and George, and Molly took me under her wing. I’ll always be grateful to her for that. 

Tomorrow we would be going to the Quidditch World Cup so I would be travelling by floo network to the Burrow to spend the night there, as we planned to head off early in the morning. I took one last look around my room, checking I had everything I needed. 

“Eve? Are you ready?” My father shouted from downstairs. 

“Coming!” I grabbed my trunk and rushed downstairs. 

“You have everything before you leave?” He asked while looking me over and down to my trunk. 

“Yes dad, I double checked. I’m ready.” I smiled and couldn’t help bouncing on the balls of my feet in anticipation. 

“Alright then, I guess I will see you in a week to send you off for the new term.” My father said while letting out a sigh. “You know the deal. Please be careful and of course, have fun sweetheart.” He smiled as he pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. 

“I will dad. I promise. It’s going to be amazing!” I smiled while pulling slowly out of my father’s arms. I grabbed my trunk and walked into the fireplace. “I’ll see you in a week.” 

“Tell Molly and Arthur I said ‘hello’ and thank them again for bringing you along!” My father gave me a stern look as he awaited my response. 

“Of course dad. I absolutely will. Love you!” I watched as his face broke back into a smile before I grabbed a handful a floo powder. 

“The Burrow!” I yelled clearly before throwing the fine green powder. I saw my father wave goodbye before I closed my eyes as I was transported through the floo network. 

Just like that I appeared in the fireplace at the Burrow in a puff of smoke. I brushed the remaining door from my clothes before stepping out into the Weasley’s sitting room. I gave the room a glance over but no one was in sight. Listening for any distinguishing sounds I was finally able to hear the clinking of dishes in the kitchen. 

“Hello?” I asked as I followed the direction of the sound. 

“Oh Eve! I thought I heard someone arrive! I was just getting dinner started!” Molly gave me a smile as she quickly wiped her hands on her apron and soon had me in a welcoming hug. She rested her hands on my shoulders as she pulled away to look at me. 

“As gorgeous as ever. Your hair has gotten so long!”

“Molly, you literally saw me just over a month ago.” I said with a small smile while tilting my head to look at her. 

“Oh hush. It always feels like so much longer when you aren’t around. Fred and George couldn’t wait for you to come. It seemed George even more so.” She gave me a knowing look but didn’t let it linger too long before continuing. “That boy has been up and down the stairs all day, checking if you had arrived yet. Surprised he hasn’t been down since you got here.” 

I grinned as I pictured George running up and down the Burrow’s many stairs all day, hoping I’d be at the bottom, waiting. My eyes wandered to the stairs and then back to Molly. 

Molly’s eyes met mine and she nodded to the stairs. “Oh go on dear. I must get dinner started anyway. Go see everyone. The boys are going with Arthur in just a bit to get Harry, maybe you can join them.” 

I quickly hugged her once more before running to the stairs. “Thank you Molly!” I shouted as I ascended the stairs and headed directly to the twins’ room.

I soon arrived directly outside their all too familiar door and took a moment to listen for any noise coming from inside. Sure enough I could hear their muffled voices from the other side, seemingly bickering over something. I couldn’t help but smile at the sound before I reached up and gave the door a few small knocks. I listened as the voices ceased at once, replaced by footsteps. 

George slowly opened the door with a questioning look on his face before shifting to a smile.

I grinned up at him and quickly jumped up, throwing my arms around his neck.

He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and gave me a gentle squeeze. “I’ve missed you.” George spoke softly into my ear. 

I blushed as I slowly pulled back to look at him. He didn’t look shy or flustered as I expected him to be. His look was sincere and soft as he gazed down at me. 

“I missed you too.” I whispered back. 

I heard Fred clear his throat from where he sat on his bed. “Oi! Don’t keep her all to yourself Georgie!”

George rolled his eyes as he pulled away from me with a smirk. He stepped to the side and motioned me in.  
I laughed as I walked over and plopped down on the bed next to Fred. George followed behind me and sat across from us on his own bed. 

“Hey there Freddie.” 

He leaned over and gave me a hug before looking at the journal he had sat beside him. “Alright Evie?”

“Yeah I am. Hadn’t heard back from you two after my last letter.” I raised my eyebrows and looked back and forth between the two. 

“Sorry Eve. We wanted to write back but Errol had been busy. Quite worn out he’s been. He had to deliver to Bill, and Charlie in Romania. We would have used Ron’s new owl but he was busy delivering to Harry.” Fred responded, giving me a puppy dog look as he pouted and widened his eyes. 

“Oh stop it.” I laughed as I pushed him away, receiving a chuckle from him. “I guess I can forgive you. Don’t want poor Errol overworked. Ron got a new owl?”

“Yep, on account of Ol’ Scabbers being a middle-aged man and all.” He shrugged as if what he said was a completely normal fact. “Ginny named him Pigwidgeon.”

“Pigwidgeon?” I asked with a disbelieving stare.

“Oh yeah, we had the same reaction. Ron has just started calling him Pig, which I guess might be better. I’m not convinced though.” George responded with a chuckle.

“Well I’m excited to meet him later. In other news, you two excited for the cup?” I asked with an animated grin.

“Oh absolutely! Though I think Ickle Ronnikins is holding enough excitement for the lot of us. Won’t shut up about it.” Fred let out a chuckle. I couldn’t help but smile at the all too familiar nickname. 

“It’s gonna be wicked. I can’t wait. Even better since you’re coming with us.” George smirked as he spoke those last words. 

I was momentarily taken back by his flirting but then also I couldn’t have been more thrilled. “Oh we all know nothing is the same without my presence.” I said smugly as I flipped my hair over my shoulder and directed a wink at him. My serious demeanor quickly broke into a laugh. 

Fred rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I think that’s actually me you’re talking about.” He puffed out his chest and raised his chin as he sat straight up. 

“Yeah, in your dreams ya lunatic.” George responded to his brother with an incredulous look. 

Fred scoffed and I could tell he was going to start arguing so I was quick to interrupt. “That’s quite enough you two. We are all wondrous sights to behold and everyone should be so lucky. Now, I almost forgot to ask… how’d the toffee turn out?” I couldn’t hide the excitement in my voice as I asked. They had been working on a new invention all summer, which I had helped by contributing my charms knowledge too. I couldn’t wait to see how it turned out.

“I think it will work amazingly. Came together quite quickly thanks to your brilliance.” George spoke as he grabbed a small candy out of a bag sitting on the floor. He tossed a piece of it to me while smiling proudly.

I closely inspected the candy I now held in my hand. It looked just like a normal candy and if I hadn’t known any better, I would believe it was. “Do we know if it works?” 

“Not yet. Haven’t had anyone to test it out on yet but I think we may have come up with the perfect subject.” Fred told me before turning to smirk at his brother with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

“Who are you thinking?” I asked curiously. 

“Oh I think you’ll know soon enough.” Fred chuckled.

“As long as it isn’t me.” I narrowed my eyes at him but decided not to push it since he seemingly wanted to keep it a secret for now. “Is your mum still terribly angry about Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes?” 

Fred and George exchanged a look before turning back to me. “Oh definitely. She is still set on us working for the Ministry, but we won’t be giving up that easily.” Fred said with a proud smile.

“We have already made up a ton of new order forms after she burnt the others and we still have our prices all listed out. I think she’ll come around eventually. At least we hope she will.” George said trying to sound certain though I could sense the smallest bit of doubt.

“I bet she will. Especially once you two have your shop and she sees how well it does. Which I believe without even an inkling of doubt, it will absolutely be a success.”

“Thanks for that Evie. I hope you’re right.” Fred said without any hint of humor.

“Okay, now, when are we leaving to get Harry?” I asked while trying to lighten the mood after a moment.

George opened his mouth as he was about to answer but before he could there was a solid knock on the door before it opened to reveal Arthur. He looked to Fred and George before he settled on me and an excited expression graced him. “Oh Eve! Lovely to see you dear. You coming with us to get Harry?”

I smiled widely as I nodded. “Absolutely! I would love to!” 

“Alright then. We best head off! Ron is waiting downstairs.” Arthur turned to walk down the hall and down the stairs. Fred walked out first, then George placed a hand on my lower back as he gently guided me to walk ahead of him which of course led me to have a flutter of butterflies in my stomach.

Once we were downstairs I spotted Ron and greeted him with a hug. “Hi Ickle Ronnikins.” 

“Oh bloody hell! You’re back on that as well are you?” He let out a groan as he pulled out of my embrace. 

I laughed and ruffled his hair. “Oh absolutely. You may be taller than me now but that’s no excuse. You’ll always be Ickle Ronnikins.” I pouted out my lips as I spoke the nickname before the twins and I all began to laugh upon Ron’s irritated and somewhat embarrassed look. “Oh and I heard you got a new owl?” 

“Oh yeah, drives me a little mental but he does his best. I’m sure you’ll see him around later.” Ron spoke as Arthur rejoined us.

“Alright, Alright. Let’s get going.” Arthur motioned for us to head over to the fireplace. “I had Harry’s aunt and uncle’s fireplace connected to the network for today for easier travel. Okay, I’ll go first!”

Mr. Weasley walked into the fireplace and shouted, “Number 4 Privet Drive!” 

Fred then entered next, followed by George, then Ron, then me. I closed my eyes and clearly shouted the destination but when I opened my eyes it was still dark and I was wedged tightly between who I believed to be George and Ron. “Bloody hell! What happened?” 

“We were just having a rather lovely discussion about that as well.” Fred responded sarcastically as I pictured he was just about squished into the wall.

“Seems the fireplace has been blocked.” George informed me from where he stood pressed closely against my back.

“I’m trying to think of what to do.” I heard Mr. Weasley before muttering something more so to himself. 

I heard Harry begin to say something from the other side of the barrier soon followed by a loud bang and a flash which was soon followed by the light of the room as Arthur blew out the barrier. 

We all made our way out of the fireplace in a cloud of dust and rubble. We were met by the shriek of a woman I could assume was Harry’s aunt Petunia as she stumbled backward over a table, only to be caught by a large man with a horrible scowl etched on his face who I immediately knew to be Mr. Dursley, Harry’s uncle.

Arthur had stepped out ahead of us to address the Dursleys while the rest of us continued to dust ourselves off. Harry’s aunt and uncle already seemed absolutely unpleasant as they backed away from Mr. Weasley’s outstretched hand. He soon lowered it upon taking in the look of horror on Vernon Dursley’s face. “Er- sorry about that. It didn’t occur to me it may have been blocked. I can put it right in a jiffy, don’t worry. I’ll light a fire to send the children back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I disapparate.”  
The two adult muggles stood looking absolutely dumbfounded. 

I smiled as I spotted Harry, looking rather amused watching the interaction between Arthur and his aunt and uncle.

“Hello Harry! Got your trunk ready?” Arthur turned to ask Harry.

“It’s upstairs.” Harry responded, grinning back.

“We’ll get it.” Fred spoke up. He shot Harry a wink before him and George left for Harry’s room up the stairs.

While Arthur rather awkwardly tried to make conversation with the Dursleys, I made my way over to Harry. “Hey there cousin!” I said excitedly as I pulled him into a hug. 

Harry hugged back firmly. “Hey! Your last letter didn’t say you’d be coming as well!” He responded before slowly pulling away.

“Last minute decision.” I responded with a bright smile.

My attention soon shifted as a rather plump boy about Harry’s age inched his way into the room along the wall, shifting his terrified eyes back and forth from Mr. Weasley, to Ron, then me as he worked his way over to stand with his parents. 

“Ah, this is your cousin, is it, Harry?” Arthur asked, still maintaining his friendly tone.

Harry nodded before responding. “Yep, that’s Dudley.”

I shared a look with both Harry and then Ron, all three of us were trying our hardest not to laugh at the scene unfolding before us. The temptation to laugh only grew as Mr. Weasley tried to pull Dudley into conversation.

I nudged both Harry and Ron with each of my elbows, indicating for them to watch me. I stepped out from between the two boys, toward Dudley. His immediate reaction was to shrink back from me as much as he could. This led me to bite my lip as it was becoming exceedingly difficult not to laugh. I held out my hand toward him though I knew he wouldn’t dare come into contact with me for fear of what I might do. “Hello Dudley. I’m the other cousin. Lovely to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.” I narrowed my eyes at him while still holding a smile.

Dudley’s only reaction was to try to wedge himself further behind his father to shoot me a look of disgust from where he felt only somewhat more protected from my stare. I smirked and caused my wand to ‘accidentally’ fall out of my pocket which caused all three muggles to jump back with increasingly fearful looks. “Whoops! Sorry about that!” I couldn’t help the amused smile on my face as I bent down to pick up my wand, which again caused Petunia to gasp and Dudley to fist the back of his father’s shirt. 

I quickly turned around and threw a hand over my mouth so as not to laugh as I walked back over to Harry and Ron who were both on the brink of laughter.

Fred and George soon made their way back into the room while carrying Harry’s trunk. I watched both their faces break into evil grins as their eyes landed on Dudley. George’s eyes shifted from where he was looking at Dudley, to shoot a wink at me. That is when I realized exactly who they had decided to test the new product on.

I looked over to where Arthur was now taking out his wand and turned toward the fireplace. “Alright, better get cracking then.” He pointed his wand and shouted “Incendio!” 

Suddenly flames appeared in the fireplace. He took out a small back of what I immediately knew to be floo powder before opening it and taking a pinch out to throw on the fire. 

“Off you go then, Fred.” Arthur said motioning for Fred to approach the fire.

“Coming- oh hold on-” Fred’s bag of sweets he had in his pocket soon dumped out onto the floor sending the familiar candy in all directions on the floor. Fred and I both bent down to pick them up. Fred stuffed them back in his pocket and I did the same to mine, while smirking slyly up at him before we stood back up. 

Fred waved cheerfully at the Dursleys before he stepped into the fire and shouted, “the Burrow!”

Petunia let out a gasp in response as she watched Fred disappear from sight.

“Right George, you and the trunk next.” Arthur spoke up.

Harry walked over to help George carry the trunk into the fire. Once it was all settled, Harry stepped back and George yelled “the Burrow!” 

“Eve? Would you like to go next?” Arthur turned toward me as he asked.

“Sure, Mr. Weasley!” I spoke happily as I walked over and into the fire. I waved to the Dursley’s before clearly shouting my destination. I was soon exiting the fireplace into the comforting familiarity of the Burrow.

As I stepped out I was quickly met by George’s tall frame smiling down at me. He had set Harry’s trunk off to the side and now stood directly in front of me. He reached up to gently smooth out my hair which had gotten messed up during the journey there and back. He smoothed out one last piece and next to my face and then stood back to look at me with a soft smile. “There we go. Perfect.” 

“Thank you.” I smiled in response before replacing it with a glare and jabbing him playfully in the side. 

“Ouch! What was that for?” George asked in surprise while clutching his side, just as Fred was walking over. I quickly reached over to do the same to Fred.

“Ow! What the hell?” Fred asked with the same expression as George held settling on his face. I looked over my shoulder as Ron appeared in the fireplace and walked to where we were standing. I then looked around the room to make sure Molly wasn’t nearby.

“Okay, that was brilliant, but what about when your dad tells your mum what happened? Huh?” I asked, raising my eyebrows as I looked between the two while waiting for a response. Ron looked back and forth between us as he tried to catch up on what we were talking about.

“Oh, I doubt dad will tell her, even if he knows we did it on purpose.” Fred spoke nonchalantly. 

“Oh with you two for sons. He definitely knows it was on purpose.” I said with a smirk. 

“She’s got a point Freddie.” George nodded as he rested hand on my shoulder. 

Soon Harry appeared, stumbling to the ground out of the fireplace.

Fred’s head snapped excitedly in his direction as he stepped forward and reached out his hands to help Harry up. “Did he eat it?” He asked.

“Yeah he did, what was it?” Harry questioned as he straightened up.

“Ton-Tongue Toffee, something George, Eve, and I invented. George and I had been searching for someone to test them on all summer.” Fred responded brightly. 

None of us could hold in our laughter any longer and soon the room was full with the sound of it.

With the sound of a loud crack, the laughter stopped and Mr. Weasley appeared over George’s shoulder, angrier than I had ever seen him.

“That wasn’t funny Fred! What on earth did you give that boy?” Arthur shouted.

“I didn’t give him anything, I just dropped it… he’s the one that went and ate it. I didn’t tell him to.” Fred said with a smirk.

“I know you dropped it on purpose and you knew he’d eat it!” Mr. Weasley shouted.

“How big did his tongue get?” George interjected and I couldn’t help but allow my interest to be peaked.

“It was a good four feet before his parents would allow me to shrink it!” 

We all roared with laughter once again, all except Mr. Weasley of course.

“It isn’t funny! That type of behavior undermines wizard- Muggle relations when I have spent most of my life campaigning against the mistreatment of muggles and my sons-” He shouted before being cut off by Fred.

“Dad, we didn’t give it to him because he’s a muggle!” Fred spoke in a dissatisfied tone.

“No, we gave it to him because he’s a horrible, bullying git,” George added.

“It’s true Mr. Weasley! He’s a terrible brat! Right Harry?” I said seriously.

“He is, Mr. Weasley,” Harry spoke earnestly.

“That is not the point. Wait until your mother hears-”

“Hears what?” asked the familiar voice of Molly Weasley from behind us. She wandered over to us with a suspicious look currently resting on her face. “Oh hello, Harry dear.” She spoke her face shifted to a sweet smile as she saw him. “And Eve sweetheart, so glad you were able to go with the boys to get him.” Her face soon turned serious again as her eyes snapped in the direction of her husband. “What do you need to tell me, Arthur?”

Mr. Weasley looked increasingly hesitant as his eyes met his wife’s. It became quite obvious he wasn’t actually planning to tell Molly but now he was left with no choice. “It’s nothing, Molly. Fred and George just- but I’ve had words with them-” Arthur mumbled.

I looked from his worried face to Molly who was now fuming.

“What have they done this time? If this has anything to do with Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes-”

Suddenly Hermione appeared in the doorway. “Hey Harry! Ron, why don’t you show Harry where he’s sleeping?”

“He knows where he’s sleeping. In my room like he did last-”

“I’ll come with you as well!” I interrupted while nudging Ron’s arm. 

“Oh, right!” Ron said as he finally caught on.

I followed out of the room behind Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny. I glanced back at where Fred and George stood with their parents and caught their pleading eyes. I grinned and gave them a quick wave before walking out of sight and following the group up the zig zag of stairs.

I joined the group just as Ron and Ginny were filling Harry in on what Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes was and explained how angry Molly had been when she found out about it. Especially since they didn’t do as well on their O.W.L. exams as she would have hoped. I couldn’t blame myself for that one since I had actually tried to get them to study with me. I had done quite well myself.

As we continued up the stairs, a door opened and then Percy poked his head out into the hall.  
He scanned the group to see who all was there. “Oh hello Eve, hello Harry. I was just wondering who was out here making all that noise. I have to finish this report for the ministry and it is proving very hard to concentrate with everyone stomping up and down the stairs.”

“What are you working on?” Harry asked him.

I had to hold back a groan that wanted to leave my throat as Percy soon began to ramble on about his work at the Ministry.

“Hey Percy, want some candy?” I interrupted, as I pulled a piece of Ton- Tongue Toffee out of my pocket to hold out to him.

He stopped mid sentence as he looked at the candy in my hand suspiciously then shook his head. “Thank you but I’m quite alright Eve. Very kind of you though.” 

I looked at Ginny who stood next to me and gave her a mischievous grin. “So close.” I whispered and she quietly laughed in response.

That had only distracted him for a moment before he started on with the subject again to soon be interrupted by Ron, which led to Percy slamming his bedroom door as we continued up the stairs. We had almost reached Ron’s room on the top floor when we heard shouting from the kitchen travelling all the way up to us as it seemed Molly had just been told about the toffees. 

When we entered Ron’s room, he introduced Harry and I to his new owl he called Pig. He seemed quite energetic but he was also quite cute. I could tell him and Strix probably wouldn’t get along very well whenever it is they meet. 

We talked a bit more about Percy’s new job at the Ministry of Magic. Soon Ron began to ask Harry a question about Sirius but caught himself before he said his name as he realized he probably shouldn’t mention him around Ginny.

Ginny looked quite curious before Hermione and I exchanged a nervous look. “I think the arguing has stopped. Maybe we should head back downstairs!” She quickly suggested.

We all agreed and the group made their way back downstairs. I stayed back to use the restroom before I headed down to meet everyone. I was beginning to wander into the kitchen, no sight of Fred and George as I looked around the room. 

“Oh not again!” Molly shouted and my eyes quickly snapped to where she stood as she picked up what I quickly recognized to be one of the twins’ fake wands. My thoughts were confirmed when the wand she had picked up, turned into a rubber mouse.

I grinned widely once Molly turned back to the food. The girls quickly informed me we would be eating outside so I joined them in bringing the plates and silverware out to where we would be eating. I set the plates down in their rightful places before excusing myself from the group to find Fred and George.

At seven o’clock, we all joined at the tables outside for dinner. Fred, George and I had caught up before dinner about what Molly ended up saying to them during the argument earlier. We now sat at the end of the table talking excitedly about the World Cup we would soon be attending. Dinner was relaxing and peaceful while everyone engaged happily in conversation. 

Soon Mrs. Weasley spoke up from the end of the table, “Look at the time,” She said while checking her watch. “You should all be heading off to bed. You’ll be getting up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup.” 

There were nods of agreement from everyone as people began to stand up shift and get up from the table. I stood to leave the table as well but George quickly caught my hand. I turned back to look at him with a confused grin. “Yeah Georgie?”

“Oh- um, will you take a quick walk down to the pond with me?” George asked gently.

“Of course.” I responded happily and started to walk with George in the direction of the pond.

As we were walking I felt his hand brush against mine before he laced his fingers through mine. I looked down at our hands with a small smile before looking up at him. “Why did you want to take me down to the pond? Not going to push me in are you? Because it wouldn’t be the first time.” I gave him a suspicious look as I smiled at him.

He laughed and shook his head in response. “No, I swear it. I just wanted to show you how beautiful the stars looked tonight.” 

My grin widened in response as I looked from him and up to the sky. He was right about the stars. “Gorgeous…” I whispered while gazing up at them.

“Maybe the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” George spoke quietly beside me. 

When I turned my head to look at him, I expected to see him looking up at the sky but to my surprise, he was facing me. I blushed as he reached up with the hand not holding mine to rest on my cheek. My heart stopped as fingers brushed softly through my hair. He slowly began to inch his face closer to mine and I tilted my face up to meet his. He gently let go of my hand he had been holding and wrapped his arm around my waist to pull my body flush against his. I let out a shaky breath as he gazed into my eyes. I brought my hands up to lock behind his neck and closed my eyes as his lips finally pressed against mine. Almost immediately I felt the same spark of electricity travel through me as it did that morning at Hogwarts. His lips were as soft and perfect as I remembered as they moved in sync with mine. All I could think of was how perfect everything felt in that very moment and how well his lips fit with mine. We stayed locked together for another moment before we slowly pulled away from each other. We were breathing heavily and I could assume I was just as flushed as he was. 

I smiled shyly up at him, earning a bright smile in response before he had both arms around me in a strong embrace. My head rested against his chest, inhaling his comforting scent as I enjoyed the safe feeling of being held by him.

We were soon pulled out of our own little world at the shore of the pond by the sound of Molly’s voice from the porch of the Burrow, “George! Genevieve!” 

We both slowly pulled back to look in the direction of the Burrow. “I guess we should get to bed. We have a big day tomorrow,” I said to him while resting my hands on his hips.

He smiled down at me before giving a small nod. “I guess you’re right. Though I was quite enjoying this.” He looked from my eyes to my lips and then back up.

I leaned up on my tiptoes and placed a small, quick kiss once more on his lips before I pulled away. I smirked at him as I backed away toward the burrow, out of his arms. “Last one there has to sleep with the Ghoul in the attic!” I shouted before sprinting off towards the house.

“Hey!” George yelled from where he stood by the pond before I soon heard him running up behind me. 

We ended up touching down on the porch at the exact same time. I blamed George’s legs being longer as to why he so easily caught up to me. We walked inside and were met by Arthur, Molly, and Fred. Molly then told George, Fred and I to get up to bed which we quickly did. I walked into Ginny’s room where her and Hermione were already falling asleep.

I got into my pajamas and got into my makeshift bed on the floor and soon drifted off to sleep, excited for the possibilities the next day would bring. 

\-------------------------

The next morning, Molly shook us awake and told us to get dressed and to come downstairs for breakfast. I assumed she did the same to the boys and as soon as I walked out of Ginny’s room after getting ready, they were all coming down the stairs one after the other. George sent a small, tired smile my way as he spotted me in the hallway. I gave him a small wave and smiled to myself as I followed them downstairs.

Upon entering the kitchen, I noticed Molly was stirring something in a large pot on the stove. My attention was soon drawn to Mr. Weasley however as he sat at the table, checking our tickets. He spread out his arms to show us what he was wearing as we all entered. He was wearing an interesting mix of muggle clothing to fit in on our journey to the Cup.

“You look quite dashing Mr. Weasley,” I complimented, earning a bright smile from the cheerful man.

George came over to stand beside me and let out a rather large yawn. Upon seeing him yawn, I did the same which led him to chuckle. I narrowed my eyes at him before shaking my head with a smile as I looked back to Mr. Weasley.

“Why do we have to be up so early?” Ginny asked her father.

“Because we’ve got a bit of a walk.”

“Are we walking to the World Cup?” Harry asked him.

“Oh no, that would be much too far. We just have a short walk,” Arthur responded.

I looked over to George who quickly shoved something down into his pocket.

“George!” Molly yelled, which caused us all to jump. “What is in your pocket?”

“Nothing!” George said, trying his best to act innocent.

Molly pointed her wand at George’s pocket. “Accio!” She shouted, causing several small objects, I immediately knew to be Ton-Tongue Toffees, to fly out and into her hand. “You were supposed to destroy them!” Molly was clearly furious.

The twins had stuffed their pockets full and I knew they were planning on sneaking them into the Cup and now using the Summoning Charm, Molly had them all (at least, all the ones the twins had). Molly was unaware that I had helped them invent it which I hoped would stay that way for now. I wouldn’t want Molly angry at me as well and this way she wouldn’t suspect me of helping them hide the products. 

“We spent six months developing those!” Fred yelled.

“Oh a fine way to spend six months! No wonder you didn’t get more O.W.L.s!” Molly yelled at the two of them.

The room felt incredibly tense as Mr. Weasley kissed Molly goodbye. The twins both walked out of the house glowering, without muttering a single word to their mother.

“Have a lovely time,” Molly spoke to the rest of us. “And behave yourselves!” She yelled in the direction of the twins.

We said our goodbyes and I ran out to catch up to Fred and George across the yard.

“Hey!” I yelled toward them which got them to stop for a moment to allow me to reach them. We continued walking with the rest of the group farther behind. I walked in between the rather glum looking boys.

“I can’t believe she got rid of all of them!” Fred said, finally breaking the silence.

“All those months of hard work, gone! Just like that!” George added on.

“We were going to try to sell them while we were at the Cup but now that plan is absolutely shot to shit.” Fred grumbled, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Hey!” I nudged both of them. When their attention was on me, I pulled my backpack so it was resting on my front and opened the larger compartment.

“Do you boys not know me at all?” I asked while feigning a look of hurt.

“What do you mean, Lupin?” Fred asked.

I rolled my eyes and chanced a glance behind us to make sure the rest of the group was still a safe distance away. I smiled and held the bag open to reveal a whole load of Ton-Tongue Toffee. “Figured I’d hold much more in my bag than your pockets would.” 

Both of their faces soon broke into the biggest smiles while I closed up my backpack for safe keeping and slung it into place on my back. 

“Genevieve!” The two yelled in perfect unison which made me laugh.

“Have I ever told you, you are absolutely the most ingenious witch I have ever met?” George asked with the brightest smile.

“No but please, tell me again?” I asked smugly.  
They both shook their heads and threw an arm around my shoulders so we were all linked together while we walked.

“I knew there was a reason you were our best mate!” Fred said, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

We laughed and continued talking until after a while we had made it to where we thought it was we needed to be. We turned around to check in with Mr. Weasley.

“Is this the right place Mr. Weasley?” I asked him loudly as he was still a little farther back.

He waited to respond until him and the rest of the group were a tad closer. “That it is Eve, and we made excellent time! Now we just need to find the portkey.” 

“Any idea what object it will be?” I asked as we began searching around the area.

“No my dear, but it will be rather small.” Arthur responded.

The twins and I all searched the same bit of area together until we all heard a shout from an unfamiliar voice. “Arthur! We found it! It’s over here!”

We followed Arthur until we spotted two figures at the top of the hill. One of which I could make out to be Cedric Diggory.

“Amos!” Arthur said, as we approached the two. 

Mr. Weasley shook hands with both men as we joined them. “Everyone, this is Amos Diggory, and I’m sure you all know his son Cedric?”

Of course we definitely did know Cedric. He was the Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and he wasn’t necessarily bad looking either. All the girls went crazy over him, and I’d been known to study with him on the few occasions we were both in the library together. This was much to the dismay of Fred and George who still hadn’t forgiven him for the victory Hufflepuff was able to get over Gryffindor in the first match of the season last year. That was the same match where Harry had fallen off his broom.

“Hi,” Cedric said, looking around the group.

Ginny, Hermione, and Harry said hello back while Fred and George simply nodded. 

Cedric’s eyes soon landed on me and he smirked. “Hey there Gen, didn’t know you’d be coming along.”

I smiled and nodded, “Hey Ced and well of course. Where these two go I go and vice versa. You know the deal.”  
Cedric chuckled and shook his head. “How could I forget?”

Mr. Weasley was in conversation with Amos over the journey here until he turned and began to introduce us all. 

Amos greeted each one of us and Cedric got his attention, pointing in my direction. “I’ve actually mentioned Gen to you dad. She’s the one who helped me ace my last charms exam.” He sent a wink in my direction and I couldn’t help the blush that was making its way to my cheeks.  
I heard George scoff from where he stood next to me and from his tone I assumed he was rolling his eyes before he leaned over and muttered something to Fred.

“Oh of course! I’ve heard you're quite talented in the subject.” Amos said.

“I would like to think so. I actually enjoy Defense and Magical Creatures quite a bit as well. Favorite subjects and all, but Charms is at the top.” I said, giving him a kind smile.

“Oh then I just might have to test your magical creature knowledge as well!” Amos spoke before letting out a chuckle.

I nodded with a smile before his attention was brought to Harry. He had the same reaction as most do upon meeting Harry which at this point in knowing Harry, had become sort of humorous.

I turned my attention to the twins and seemingly caught George glaring in Cedric’s direction. “Quite chummy with the enemy over there Lupin.” He said, now looking at me, a bit too seriously for my liking.

“Oh please, you two really need to get over that loss. It was almost a year ago!” 

George gave me a look I couldn’t recognize before glancing back at Cedric then he turned his attention away from me entirely. 

I wasn’t sure why he was suddenly acting harshly toward me over a quidditch match. Just as I was about to question him, we were interrupted by Mr. Weasley’s voice. “Alright, everyone touch the portkey.”

I glanced once more at George but he continued to stare off straight ahead as we all circled around the portkey. We all placed a finger upon it as Mr. Weasley looked at his watch and began to count down. “Three...two...one.” And just like that I felt as though something was pulling on my as we lifted into the air in a swirl of wind. Before we knew it we were coming into contact with the ground with great force.I stumbled back, landing flat on my butt as did just about everyone else except for Arthur, Amos, and Cedric who were all still standing.

I looked over to see if the twins were alright and Fred laughed as he looked over at me. “That was a bit of a rough landing. Though I don’t feel as bad seeing as you landed flat on your arse as well Evie.”

I laughed and picked some grass to throw at him. I noticed George was sitting behind him, not quite as amused as Fred had been. 

My attention was suddenly brought back in front of me as Cedric held his hand out for me to take, “Need a hand?” He asked.

I looked at him from my place on the ground with momentary surprise. “Oh, sure.” I responded, before I took his hand and he helped pull me to my feet. “Thanks Ced,” I said with a friendly smile.

“My pleasure.” He smiled back at me. 

The rest of the group had gotten to their feet and we were met by two men, Arthur and Amos seemingly knew, who then gave us the location of our campsite.

“Hey, Gen?” Cedric asked from beside me as we followed behind Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory. “Mind if I walk with you? I figured you could catch me up on how your summer has been.”

“Oh yeah Ced, sure.” I nodded before we fell into conversation about what we had been doing over the holiday. 

While we were talking I happened to glance back over my shoulder to where George and Fred were walking. Fred was telling George about something but he didn’t seem to be paying attention as he glared at the back of Cedric’s head. Suddenly I caught his eyes and I gave him a small smile. He didn't smile back, in fact his reaction wasn’t like him at all. He furrowed his brow and quickly glanced away from me with a look that was left somewhere between sad and angry. I turned back to face forward as I walked with Cedric and I couldn’t help the mix of confusion and hurt I felt from George’s response. I fell back into conversation with Cedric as we got closer to the campsite, but I couldn’t help wonder why George was suddenly so upset with me. I hoped I was overthinking it but from the look he had given me… I don’t think I was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on twitter @SA1NTWEASLEY


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My fingers fidgeted in my lap as I thought about each interaction I had with George. “Well no… I guess not, I guess I just thought I had made it obvious.”
> 
> Fred chuckled softly and shook his head. “Well I am clearly the smarter twin then because I am sure he doesn’t think you feel the same that he does now. Seemed to start after he saw you with Diggory at the Cup.”
> 
> “Oh… oh no, he thinks I like Cedric. Why the bloody hell does he think I would kiss him and then immediately turn around and go for Cedric?” I asked, increasingly irritated at what seemed to be going through George’s head.
> 
> “As I said before Evie, I am the smarter twin.” He said proudly while smirking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is leading up to the drama so get ready ;)  
> Hope you like it!

George seemed to ignore me for the entirety of the game. He was still smiling and having fun but he didn’t go out of his way to interact with me. I ended up standing between Fred and Ginny the whole time. I would say other than the reaction I was getting from George, I did have fun and the game was incredible. Ireland had ended up winning and Fred and George had bet on that very outcome, much to Arthur’s dismay. I knew for a fact what the money they made would be going toward, so I couldn’t help but be happy for them. 

After the game we headed back to the tent where everyone was in high spirits. Ron was rambling on about how amazing the Bulgarians’ seeker, Victor Krum was which gave Fred and George perfect ammunition to make fun of him. We were all having a great time and I was sitting and laughing with Ginny and Hermione when Arthur interrupted, telling us all it was time to get to bed.

Just as soon as I had begun to fall asleep it seemed I was being shaken awake by Hermione. “Genevieve! Get up! Quickly, we have to go!” 

I looked at her with wide eyes as my brain caught up to what was happening. Something was clearly wrong once I took in my surroundings. Mr. Weasley had just entered into the tent with a look of panic. The sounds of screams could be heard from outside as well as people running. I quickly slid on my shoes and grabbed a jacket while looking from Hermione to Ginny. I held out my hand for Ginny to take, feeling protective of the youngest Weasley. As soon as she took it, we ran to meet the rest of the group and then took off out of the tent. 

Once we were all outside, the scene in front of us was one of chaos. I could see people as they fled into the woods as something I couldn’t make out, followed them. I turned still clutching Ginny’s hand as I scanned the group frantically and made eye contact with George who tried his best to give me a reassuring nod, it seemed for the moment his earlier frustration was forgotten. Our eyes broke away as both of our attention was pulled by the sounds of laughter and marching footsteps that seemed to be drawing closer. 

Soon, we could see a group of wizards, hooded with their faces covered by masks. The picture in front of us was horrifying as they had their wands lifted and were manipulating four muggles, one I had recognized as the campsite manager, into the air above them, two of them had to have been his children.

“They’re just children…” I whispered absolutely disgusted.

Ginny shrunk into my side as she watched as horrified as the rest of us. I squeezed her hand, trying to provide some comfort. 

“That’s sick…” I heard Ron mutter from beside us.

I looked from the horrifying sight in front of, toward where Mr. Weasley stood with Percy. “We’re going to help the Ministry! You lot, get into the woods and stick together, I will come find you when everything is sorted!” Mr. Weasley shouted before he and Percy took off running. Fred came over and quickly grabbed Ginny’s free hand before we all ran to the woods as fast as we could. We didn’t stop until we knew we had Ginny safely hidden amongst the trees. Once we were hidden, I pulled out my wand.

“Lumos!” I muttered and quickly looked around to see if everyone made it but the only people standing with me were Fred, George, and Ginny. “Where are the others?” I asked with panic evident in my voice.

“We must have lost them a ways back. Don’t worry Eve, I’m sure they’ll be okay,” Fred said, trying his best to sound comforting.

I nodded and we stood amongst the trees for a while longer before things seemed calm once again. 

“Should we head back to the tent? It sounds like it may be over?” I asked, looking to George and Fred and then at Ginny.

“Yeah, I think it would be okay to head back now. We should try to find the others,” George said calmly, casually avoiding my gaze now.

We made our way out of the forest and back in the direction of the tent. While walking, we all quickly noticed the glowing green form floating in the sky above the camp.

“What is that?” Ginny asked from beside me.

My eyes were wide and I couldn’t help the angry expression that soon rested on my face. “It’s the Dark Mark,” I responded quietly.

“You mean-” Ginny began to speak.  
I nodded and let out the breath I had been holding. “His mark.”

“We need to get back to the tent, the others are probably there waiting,” Fred said. 

We had made it back to the tent and after a few minutes we were joined by the rest of the group. Arthur told us to pack up and ready ourselves to leave and head back to the Burrow. We were quick to finish packing up and soon we had taken the portkey and were walking back to the comfort of the Burrow. I chose to walk back with Ginny since George was still being rather quiet. He had asked me if I was okay after what happened and I could tell he was actually concerned but once he knew I was alright, he went back to behaving as before. It also didn’t seem to help that Cedric was sure to hug me goodbye before we left.

\---------------------------------

The week at the burrow passed in the blink of an eye. Molly had been incredibly worried about us all and was absolutely relieved upon seeing us. My dad had also been waiting at the Burrow when we got back to make sure I was okay since the story of what had happened quickly made its way to the front page of The Daily Prophet.

I ended up staying there the rest of the week. Eventually George got back to his normal self with me except there was no more flirting and avoidance of absolutely all touching and I was losing my mind. I noticed when I was helping the twins create new order forms for Weasley Wizard Wheezes that every now and then I would catch him staring at me. The first time I caught him he simply offered a small smile but it didn’t seem to meet his eyes. He refused to tell me what was wrong when I brought it up. Now we are on our way back to Hogwarts and I couldn’t be more irritated with him, though I was trying not to show it. The only idea I had was to talk to Fred about it when I get the chance. In other news it was written in our school lists that I would need to have a formal dress for something this year and Molly had gotten dress robes for all the boys. Hermione and I agreed we would go together to pick out dresses when the time came. My father was sure to meet me at the station before we travelled to Hogwarts so he could say goodbye as well as give me some extra money to buy a dress. He made a joke about assuming I didn’t want him to pick it out which I couldn’t help but laugh at but also be very grateful for his foresight. However, I couldn’t help but wonder what we would need to dress so formally for this year. 

\--------------------------------

As soon as we arrived at Hogwarts excitement had already begun. While I walked to the entrance with Fred, George and Lee, we couldn’t hold back our laughter as we spotted the ever mischievous Peeves throwing water balloons at the arriving students. We luckily made it passed unscathed but as I looked back a moment later, I watched as Ron was doused with water from a red balloon. I nudged both of the twins as I laughed, motioning for them to turn and look which caused all of us to laugh harder. We continued laughing as we made our way to the Great Hall. It had died down as we entered and made our way to the Gryffindor table. While we took our seats my eyes were drawn over to the Hufflepuff table where I was met by the smiling face of Cedric Diggory. I gave a friendly smile back and gave him a wave before bringing my attention back to George, Fred, Lee, and Angelina and Alicia who had just joined us. When I glanced at George, his brow was furrowed and he stared down at the place setting in front of him before looking back up to give me a small smile upon noticing my eyes on him. He then turned to join in conversation with Fred and Lee. I couldn’t help the pang of confusion at his reaction but I chose not to dwell on it at the moment. I turned back to both of the girls and we fell into conversation as everyone settled in around us. 

We sat through the sorting ceremony patiently and cheered each time one of the first years were sorted into Gryffindor. Once the sorting was complete, we tucked in for the feast. From further down the table I could hear Hermione talking heatedly about Hogwarts’ use of house elves and I couldn’t help but smile as Ron and Harry tried to calm her down which seemed to have no affect.

When everyone had finished, Dumbledore brought our attention back to him for some announcements.

“Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle this year has been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever- Bashing Boomerangs-”

I covered my mouth to hide my smile as I giggled in response to the new additions. I leaned toward the twins who also had smirks on their faces. “Well damn boys, I guess that’s just too bad then. No more pranks on Filch this year.”

The twins chuckled and then gave both of their best attempts at innocent faces.  
“Oh, absolutely not!” Fred responded innocently.

“Turning over a new leaf this year we are.” George said seriously before breaking into a smile along with Fred a moment later.

I huffed out a laugh before turning my attention back to where Dumbledore stood. 

“As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year.”

Murmurs broke out all through the Great Hall as students processed the announcement. Looks were being sent back and forth among my own table between Fred, George, Angelina, Harry and all other members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I looked to Fred and George who were looking at Dumbledore, mouthing words soundlessly, seemingly at a loss for words. 

Dumbledore continued, “This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers’ time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-”

Dumbledore was suddenly interrupted by a loud rumble of thunder and then the doors of the Great Hall were thrown open with a bang. I snapped my head in their direction where a somewhat familiar man stood in the doorway, Mad- Eye Moody. I had met him once or twice when I was younger because of my father, and he looked just the same. He hobbled to sit at the front among the other professors. 

I gave a confused look to the twins before whispering, “Do you think he’s our new Dark Arts professor?”

They both gave me a shrug before Fred responded, “Would make sense.”

We turned our attention once again to Dumbledore as he cleared his throat. 

“As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year.” 

Excitement broke out once again throughout the hall. My jaw dropped as I looked between my group of friends. 

“You’re JOKING!” Fred said loudly.

Everyone laughed in response, including myself and even Dumbledore couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I am not joking, Mr. Weasley, though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…”

I smiled as I waited for him to continue but he was soon interrupted by McGonagall loudly clearing her throat.

“But maybe this is not the time… no...where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament… well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation , and allow their attention to wander freely.”

Dumbledore continued on to give an explanation as I smiled at Fred and George, already knowing they would want to enter and I was even thinking about it myself. They were both smiling and I could tell just how excited they were.

“The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their shortlisted contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons in prize money.”

“I’m going for it!” Fred spoke enthusiastically to us.

“Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, the Heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age- that is to say, seventeen years or older- will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration.-”

I looked to Fred and George who looked furious and the room once again broke into outrage from every table. Dumbledore raised his voice as he continued so he could be heard over the other voices. 

“That's rubbish!” George yelled loudly with Fred right along with him.

“This is such bullshit. We’ll be seventeen at the end of the year!” I hissed and the boys continued to fume.

Dumbledore continued, “I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion.” His eyes flickered to where Fred and George sat looking enraged. “I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.

He finished his announcement and dismissed all of us for the evening. We stood from the table as others made their way out of the Great Hall.

I looked over to George who was glaring at Dumbledore from where he stood next to me. “They can’t do that!” he said angrily. 

“They’re not stopping me from entering,” Fred spoke stubbornly beside me as he also sent a glare at the professors in the front. “The champions’ll get to do all sorts of stuff you’d never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!”

I looked back to George who still looked just as angry and all I wanted to do was walk over and try to calm him down. I stopped myself from reaching out to him as I remembered how hard he had been avoiding any romantic gestures from me. I folded my arms across my chest and looked back to the rest of the group. 

After another minute, I made my way out into the hall behind Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George. Just as we reached the bottom of the staircase, I turned as I heard a familiar voice call my name.

“Genevieve!” Cedric called out as he jogged over to where I had stopped along with Fred and George.

“Oh hey Ced. What’s going on?” I smiled and gave him a questioning look.

Cedric looked from me and towards the twins before his eyes flickered back to mine. “I was actually wondering if I could talk to you in private for a moment.”

“Oh, um- yeah of course.” I turned to Fred and George who were still standing behind me. George was glaring at Cedric before I caught his attention. “You two can go on ahead. I’ll meet you in the common room, alright?” Fred gave me a nod but George didn’t say anything before quickly turning away and rushing away from us up the stairs. I gave Fred a look of bewilderment which earned me a sympathetic smile and shrug before he took off after him.

I let out a sigh as I gave my attention to Cedric. We stood at the bottom of the stairs while students continued to walk by all around us as they made their way to their dormitories. 

“So, what do you need Cedric?”

Cedric took in a deep breath and gave me a somewhat shy smile. “Well actually, was meaning to ask you at the World Cup, but that kind of got ruined obviously… I was wondering if you would maybe like to go on a date with me?” He looked at me seriously with his hands stuffed in his front pockets.

I caught a few students staring as they walked by and began whispering hurriedly to one another as they walked off. I took a deep breath as I looked back at Cedric nervously. “Cedric…” I began, trying to think of what to say. “You are a great guy and I know there are so many girls who would be kicking me for this but…”

Cedric gave me a knowing look. “That’s a no isn’t it?” He asked calmly while raising an eyebrow as he looked at me expectantly. 

“I’m so sorry Ced. I just- I have feelings for someone else and it wouldn’t be fair of me to do that to you.” I gave him an apologetic smile as I awaited his response.

He gave me a look of understanding and nodded in response. “I get it Gen, you don’t have anything to apologize for,” he paused for a moment before giving me a small smile, “It’s George isn’t it?”

By breath hitched and I looked at him, momentarily befuddled. “How did you…?” I began before he quickly responded.

“I’ve seen the way you look at him. I had a feeling but I wasn’t sure so I figured I may as well give it a shot and ask you. I had a bit of a feeling that was going to be the answer I got but you never know for sure until you try.” He gave a shrug and smile.

“Thank you for being so understanding, I feel so stupid though because he doesn’t seem to feel the same way.” I smiled sadly up him.

“George Weasley? Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that from how he acts around you especially when I’m around.” 

“What? No, I think he still holds it against you that Hufflepuff beat Gryffindor in the match last year.” I gave him a little smile as I thought about it.

“Whatever you say but I always thought he was maybe just jealous. You would think so too if you saw the way he stares at you. I guess I was wrong though, I’m sorry Gen. I hope you guys figure it out.” He held out his arms, offering me a hug. 

My eyes had gotten a little misty talking about George and I know he saw it so I welcomed the hug and took a deep breath. 

Cedric gave me a reassuring smile as I pulled away, “I hope everything works out for you.”

“Thank you Ced and seriously, any girl would be lucky to have you. I’m sorry my heart is somewhere else.” 

“Honestly, do not feel bad at all Gen. Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you later, alright?”

“Yeah, see you later.” I waved goodbye before we turned around and went our separate ways. When I finally arrived in the Gryffindor common room I found Fred waiting for me on the sofa, no George in sight.

I walked over and plopped down next to him. “Hey Freddie, where’s George?” 

Fred looked up from the order forms he had been working on and gave me a small shrug. “Him and Lee went up to bed. I just wanted to work on finishing a few more of these order forms.” He motioned to the stack of parchment in front of him.

I reached out and pulled some from the stack with a smile. “Let me help.” 

Fred gave me a thankful nod as I began filling them out. After I had a few done, I looked over to him, figuring now would be a good time to ask him about George.

I cleared my throat before addressing him. “Freddie? Can I ask you something?”

Fred looked up from his stack of forms and nodded, “Absolutely Evie, what’s wrong?”

I bit my lip and set the quil that I had been holding down on my stack of parchment. “Do you know what has been going on with George lately?”  
Fred gave me a smirk and leaned back against the arm of the sofe. “Ah, I was wondering if you were going to talk to me about that.”

I cocked my head to the side inquisitively, “what has he told you?”

“Well I know you two kissed at the end of last year and there was a lot of flirting while we were home this summer.” He raised his eyebrows while waiting for me to respond.

I blushed and shook my head as I let out a sigh, “Yeah we kissed, a few times actually… but that is why I wanted to talk to you because he doesn’t seem to feel the same way anymore.”

Fred shook his head as he looked down in thought. “Huh, he has been acting kind of weird when it comes to you lately. Like any time anyone brings you up he wants to change the subject. I’ve been so focused on Wizard Wheezes lately I guess I didn’t really let myself read too much into it… I think you should really talk to him about it. Have either of you actually talked about your feelings at all?”

My fingers fidgeted in my lap as I thought about each interaction I had with George. “Well no… I guess not, I guess I just thought I had made it obvious.”

Fred chuckled softly and shook his head. “Well I am clearly the smarter twin then because I am sure he doesn’t think you feel the same that he does now. Seemed to start after he saw you with Diggory at the Cup.”

“Oh… oh no, he thinks I like Cedric. Why the bloody hell does he think I would kiss him and then immediately turn around and go for Cedric?” I asked, increasingly irritated at what seemed to be going through George’s head.

“As I said before Evie, I am the smarter twin.” He said proudly while smirking. 

I smacked his arm before responding, “Not helpful Freddie, I’m serious… your brother is an idiot and apparently so am I.” I groaned and plopped back against the couch pillow.

Fred shook his head and laughed in response while gathering up all the completed order forms we had made. “I’m going to let you figure this one out, Lupin. I know you will, you know George almost as well as I do. It’ll work out.” He stood up and patted the top of my head gently. 

I rolled my eyes and smiled at him. “Thanks Freddie, I’ll talk to him. See you in the morning?” 

Fred nodded, “see you in the morning Evie, don’t work your brain too hard over this, I’m going to need it’s help in entering the tournament.” He sent me a wink and smiled before he headed up to the boys dormitory.

I made my way up to the girls dormitory and quickly changed into my pajamas. Angelina and Alicia wished me a good night before I tucked into bed. After an hour of thinking about just how to explain my feelings to George, I drifted off to sleep. I wanted to tell him how I felt as soon as possible.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Alright, who’s going first?” He asked, giving a smirk as he looked around the group.
> 
> I looked up to see George with his eyes still focused on the table in front of him while both Lee and Angelina held eager smiles. Fred, Lee, and Angelina ended up passing it around and each stated exactly what it smelled like to them, before it momentarily got quiet.
> 
> “George? Evie? Who wants to go next?” Fred asked, holding out the bottle to George.
> 
> “I guess I’ll go then,” George stated hesitantly while taking the bottle from his brother. I brought my eyes to him as he leaned forward to sniff the aroma emanating from the small bottle. 
> 
> “So? What do you smell mate?” Lee asked excitedly.
> 
> For a split second I saw George’s eyes flick to mine as he took in the smell before he shifted them quickly to our friends, offering a half hearted shrug. “Just fireworks I guess-” his voice wavered ever so slightly as he spoke and with that I felt like there was something he was holding back, “that’s it.” He was avoiding eye contact with me now, once again.

After I woke up and got ready for the day, Angelina, Alicia and I began walking down to breakfast. 

“Hey Eve, you alright?” Angelina asked as we made our way downstairs. 

I was quickly pulled out of my thoughts by her voice. “Oh yeah, of course Angie… why?” I stuttered out.

Her and Alicia exchanged a look before their eyes landed on me again, “You look like you’re really deep in your head about something.”

“Yeah, and you’ve been biting your lip a lot… which you tend to do when you’re worried,” Alicia added on.

I took a deep breath and looked around us to make sure no one would hear. “Fine, you got me… I’m going to tell George,” I mumbled.

“What was that?” Angelina asked, surprised.

“I’m going to tell George how I feel!” I said slightly louder than I meant to, luckily no one was near us but few first and second years.

Angelina and Alicia looked at each other in shock before they both smiled excitedly.

“Oh, it’s about time!” Alicia said happily while swatting my arm.

“I’m nervous…” I said while taking a deep breath as we got closer to the Great Hall.  
“I’m sure it’ll be fine Eve. This is amazing! I’m so excited for you!” Angelina smiled and squeezed my shoulders in comfort as we entered the hall.

As we walked in I felt several pairs of eyes on me and caught a few people actually staring at me. “Girls… am I being paranoid or are people staring at me?”

They looked around before responding to me. “I was going to say you were being paranoid but no I think some people are definitely staring at you.” Angelina responded curiously.

“Don’t worry about Eve, I’m sure it’s nothing.” Alicia said comfortingly.

As I looked around again I saw a few fourth year Hufflepuffs staring and I had had it. “Take a photograph, it’ll last longer!” I huffed out a breath as they quickly averted their eyes as I joined my group at the Gryffindor table. Lee and Fred were laughing as I sat down. I noticed George was sat across from us with Katie Bell, a fifth year Gryffindor who was pretty good friends with Angelina and Alicia and was on the Quidditch team as well.

“What the hell was that about Evie?” Fred asked through a laugh.

“Does anyone know why the hell I’m being stared at this morning like I have bloody horns coming out of my head?” I asked annoyed.

Fred shrugged and shook his head just as Katie began to respond.

“Oh, I have a feeling I know…” Katie said with a small smile on her face. I looked at her in confusion and then glanced at Lee who was smirking like he knew and then George who was frowning down at his orange juice.

“Well then go on, out with it Katie!” I asked impatiently.

“Okay, okay… It may be going around that you’re going on a date with one mister Cedric Diggory.” She smiled and looked back at Angelina and Alicia who were sitting next to me with shocked expressions. “Anyways, I just realized I forgot something in my room that I need for Potions so I’ll be heading off. See you all.” She smiled at us as she stood up and tapped George on the shoulder. He plastered on a small, friendly looking smile as he looked at her. “I’ll see you tonight George?” 

I looked between the two of them in shock about what I just learned and confused about what she meant by ‘tonight’. 

“Yeah, I’ll see you tonight.” George responded with a nod.

“Great!” Katie smiled at him and gave him a wave before walking away.

I didn’t realize I was still staring at George with a bewildered look on my face.

“Evie? You okay?” George asked with a raised brow.

I blinked back to reality and couldn’t stop what came out of my mouth next, “What did Katie mean, she’d see you tonight?”

George swallowed hard as he looked over at Fred and then back to me. “Oh...um-”

“Georgie here has got himself a date!” Lee interrupted excitedly from beside him while nudging George with his elbow. “And I guess he’s not the only one… you and Diggory?”

I looked at George in shock and could feel a mixture of emotions rising as his eyes stared into mine, I was having trouble pinpointing exactly what he was feeling but I was stuck between anger and wanting to cry. I broke my gaze away from him to look at Lee in confusion. “I’m not dating Cedric. Why do people think I am?”

I saw George shift next to Lee out of the corner of my eye and Lee looked surprised. “Oh shit...I’m sorry Eve, I guess some people thought they heard Cedric ask you out last night and they’ve been telling everyone. I guess they were wrong.”

“No, it's not your fault Lee and they weren’t completely wrong…” I looked from Lee to the confused expression of my friends around me.

“What do you mean?” Fred asked from beside me.

“I mean, Cedric asked me out last night… but I turned him down.” I brought my eyes back to George who looked guilty as he stared down at his plate. I could feel the pressure building behind my eyes as I stared at him and I knew it was a matter of seconds before the flood gates opened. I didn’t realize I was holding so tightly onto the locket around my neck until I realized I needed to get up from the table if I didn’t want everyone to see the tears that would soon be coming. I let out a shaky breath as I stood up from the table, my eyes shifting away from George as I felt the tears brimming.  
“Genevieve? Are you okay?” Angelina asked from beside me.

I nodded and stood next to the table, avoiding any and all eye contact with George. I looked to Angelina and then Fred who both looked concerned. “Yeah, I just- I need to go.” My voice broke and I turned to walk quickly out of the hall.

Trying to avoid someone when you have almost every class with them proved to be difficult. After the event at breakfast I hung out next to the Black Lake until it was time to go to potions and once I was there I made sure I sat on the opposite end of the table from George so Lee, Angelina, and Fred got the lovely task of sitting in between us. This ended up being the norm in every class for the day and I had gotten by without having to interact with him at all. I was finally done with classes for the day and I was still teetering somewhere between wanting to cry and wanting to scream. I had almost made it to Gryffindor tower when I heard my name being called by exactly who I wished it wouldn’t be. The butterflies I usually felt upon hearing his voice still fluttered and my heart still beat just as fast but now I had the added feeling of a lump in my throat. 

“Evie!” George shouted and I heard the sound of his footsteps change from a walk to a jog.

I tried to pretend I didn’t hear him as I made my way up the stairs but it was no use as I had to stop once i got to the painting of the Fat Lady to give her the password. 

“Genevieve!” He shouted louder as I heard his footsteps grow louder.

I took a deep breath and put on the best fake smile I could muster before turning around. “What do you need George?”

He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at me. “Are you alright? We haven’t talked since… since this morning.” 

“Everything is great George. I’m great.” I turned back to the portrait as The Fat Lady asked for the password, “Balderdash,” I said and the portrait swung open. As I walked inside I could sense George still following me and I made my way over to the stairs leading to the girls’ dormitory. “Anything else you need George?” 

“No… I just wanted to check on you. Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not angry with me? You’re doing that scary smile you do when you’re angry at someone.” George said hesitantly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about George. I’m great, just have to go start on some homework. Shouldn’t you be headed out? Wouldn’t want to be late for your date now would you? ” I finally let the smile drop from my face and I rushed up the stairs to my room. 

“Genevieve!” George yelled after me as I got to my room. I knew he tried to chase after me as I heard a loud thud as the stairs transformed into a slide to prevent him from doing so.

I stayed in my room for the rest of the night. Angelina and Alicia brought back dinner to the dormitory for more which I was grateful for. After I ate I pulled my locket from where it rested under my shirt to see where George was because I was apparently in a self- deprecating mood. As I opened it I glanced at the picture of us on the left and then to where the writing, Gryffindor Common Room, rested on the opposite side. Was he by himself? Was Katie with him? Merlin, how I hoped Katie wasn’t with him. How was I going to avoid him tomorrow?

After I woke up and got ready for the day I made sure to check my locket to see where George would be and luckily he was still in the Great Hall having breakfast. I decided to skip breakfast and head to my first class of the day instead, which was Care for Magical Creatures and luckily George wasn’t in it. I got through my next few classes I did have with him able to completely avoid him by sitting on the opposite end of the room and being the first one to leave. That all worked up until our last class of the day, potions. Our spots were sadly already set but I decided I would get there early since I knew he wouldn’t be there until last minute.

I sat in my usual spot in the potions classroom and waited until one by one the room started to fill. Angelina sat next to me as soon as she got there and a few minutes later in strolled Lee, Fred, and George who sat down one by one at our table. I glanced at George for a moment, only to be caught by his sad expression before I turned to where Snape now stood at the front of the room.

“Today you will be learning about love potions.” Snape drawled on, “Who can tell me the name of the most powerful love potion currently in existence?”

I let out a sigh as I tried my hardest to keep my eyes away from the redhead sat across the table from me. 

“Miss Lupin? Since I seem to be boring you perhaps you wouldn’t mind answering the question?” Snape snidely remarked.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I gave him my attention. “Amortentia, Professor.” 

“You are correct this time Miss Lupin. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, for today each of you has a bottle of Amortentia on your table in front of you. You are to write a page of parchment listing the ingredients found in the potion as well as the symptoms experienced by the drinker. You may also smell the potion to better understand its effects… Begin.” Professor Snape gave a dismissive motion with his hand for all of us to get started. “Oh, and I will know if anyone tries to swipe a bottle and do know the consequences of trying will be rather unpleasant.” Snape held a firm glare at a few students before he turned away.

I pulled out my quill and parchment and began listing off all of the items Snape required. A majority of my writing was done when Fred spoke up.

“Alright, who’s going first?” He asked, giving a smirk as he looked around the group.

I looked up to see George with his eyes still focused on the table in front of him while both Lee and Angelina held eager smiles. Fred, Lee, and Angelina ended up passing it around and each stated exactly what it smelled like to them, before it momentarily got quiet.

“George? Evie? Who wants to go next?” Fred asked, holding out the bottle to George.

“I guess I’ll go then,” George stated hesitantly while taking the bottle from his brother. I brought my eyes to him as he leaned forward to sniff the aroma emanating from the small bottle. 

“So? What do you smell mate?” Lee asked excitedly.

For a split second I saw George’s eyes flick to mine as he took in the smell before he shifted them quickly to our friends, offering a half hearted shrug. “Just fireworks I guess-” his voice wavered ever so slightly as he spoke and with that I felt like there was something he was holding back, “that’s it.” He was avoiding eye contact with me now, once again.

I felt angry. Angry, irritated, and sad once again at his omission. At this point I wanted him to just come out with it and either tell me he felt the same way or tell me he didn’t at all. That is all I wanted and so no matter what I smelled in that potion, I was going to state exactly what it was.

“Here Evie, your turn.” The bottle had been passed back down to Angelina who was now holding it out to me.

I took the bottle from Angelina, confidently and took a deep breath before holding it up to my nose. As I finally took in the aroma, my eyes shot to George.

“Well?” Angelina asked from beside me.

My eyes didn’t leave George as he finally brought his eyes up to meet mine and as they did, I spoke, my eyes beginning to once more brim with tears, “cinnamon, fireworks, and… honeysuckle.” I stated loud and clear, my eyes watching George as I saw his jaw drop softly open and his breath hitch.

Beside us our friends had known exactly who I had just described, and exchanged glances between one another both of shock and uncertainty. The table was unusually quiet as I set the bottle down in front of me and finished writing the last few words on my paper. No one said anything as I stood and gathered my belongings and walked calmly up to hand in my work. Snape gave only a simple nod of acceptance upon placing it back on his table before I began to walk toward the exit. Along my way, the tears were seconds from falling but I stopped momentarily back where my friends sat, pointing my next few words directly at George, “don’t come find me.” I spoke firmly before I continued toward the exit.

I spent the next hour and half, sitting against a tree by the Black Lake, trying to decide what I wanted to do. As I thought more and more about everything that had happened, his jealousy over Cedric, ignoring me, the date with Katie Bell, and lastly the Amortentia situation, my anger grew and all I wanted to do was yell and tell him off, so that was my decision. 

I pulled out the locket to check his location, Gryffindor Common Room. ‘Great’, I thought to myself as I allowed the locket to rest back against my chest while I quickly collected my things and marched toward Gryffindor Tower. I firmly stated the password as I got to the portrait and was relieved to not have any of the usual comments from The Fat Lady. I took a deep breath and marched inside, scanning the common room until my eyes landed on my target. 

“George Fabian Weasley!” I yelled while storming to where he resided on the couch. 

He bolted up from the couch with wide eyes. Fred sat behind him, his face painted with shock before he looked around the room. Any conversation that had been going on, ceased at the sound of my voice. My eyes locked on George’s while from the peripheral of my vision I saw Fred and Lee both stand. 

“Alright everyone, clear out! I think these two need the room more than any of you lot at the moment!” Fred shouted at the various Gryffindors scattered around the room.

My heart was beating rapidly in my chest and I was sure to not break eye contact with George as everyone fled in all directions, some up their dormitories and others out the portrait behind me. 

“The room is yours. Don’t hold back Evie! Really lay it on thick!” 

“Fred,” I bit through clenched teeth.

“We’re going, we’re going.” Fred held back a laugh as he and Lee walked passed me and out the portrait, Lee giving me a thumbs up.

“Listen Evie, I-” George began from where he stood in front of the couch, which was the only thing sitting between us at the moment.

“No. Stop. You are just going to stand there and for the next minute you are going to listen to what I have to say.”

George took a hard swallow and nodded with an increasingly worried look on his face. He had probably never seen me so serious toward him and upset so he didn’t seem to be taking any chances.

“You are a complete asshole Weasley! I swear you drive me absolutely insane! In what universe did you think ignoring me was a good idea? Oh, and not to mention going on a date with Katie Bell? Katie Bell? You are my best friend and my favorite person in this world and you are a bloody idiot!” I took only a second to catch my breath, the words beginning to tumble out one after the other as I shouted, “You mean absolutely everything to me and how can you not see how stupidly, absolutely, incomprehensibly in love with you I am?” My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat as realization struck at what I had finally just told him.

“What did you just say?” George asked as he looked in me in utter shock from where he stood across from me.

I swallowed nervously as I thought of how to respond but all I could get out was, “huh?”

George slowly made his way around the couch towards me as he spoke, “you love me?” he asked incredulously. 

“What? I- no- I mean-” I huffed out a breath, looking at the floor between us before I continued, “Okay yes, yes! I love you okay? I am hopelessly in love with you and have been for I don't even know how long now and it’s fine if you don’t feel the same but I had to say it and you know what? I’m glad I did because you-” I was cut off from my rambling as George was suddenly standing less than a foot in front of me placing his hands on either side of my face, pulling it up gently so I was forced to meet his watery eyes with my own.

“Would you shut up so I can kiss you?” He asked while one of his hands gently moved a piece of hair back from my cheek. 

My breath caught in my throat as I stared up at him in shock. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, his lips were on mine, his hands held my face as he kissed me firmly and with so much passion I began to feel as if I was floating. I melted into him almost immediately and once my mind finally caught up to what was going on my hands slid around his back to hold onto him tightly. My fingers fisted his shirt as our lips moved together in perfect rhythm. Time seemed to stand still as if we were in a world of our own, in the middle of the Gryffindor common room. 

When we finally pulled apart George leaned his forehead against mine, the only sounds to be heard were the crackling of the fire and the ragged breath between us. We stood like that for another moment before I slowly opened my eyes to meet his own in the process.

“I am absolutely, desperately in love with you, Genevieve Lily Lupin,” he whispered to me. His hands remained on my cheeks, his left thumb brushed over my cheek softly, sweeping a stray tear away with it.  
The biggest smile made its way to my lips as I stared up at him. “You are?” I whispered.

“Of course I am Evie. For so long now. I didn’t just give you that locket last year so you could find Fred and I. I wanted you to be able to find me whenever you needed me for any reason and I wanted to be able to find you and always know if you’re safe. And Evie, that’s not the only thing I wasn’t honest with you about…”

My eyebrows furrowed as I stared up at him.

“I don’t know why I said I didn’t smell anything but fireworks when I smelled the Amortentia earlier. You were braver than I was because I absolutely did smell something else. You. I smelled honey and vanilla which I know is the scent of your shampoo because it’s how your hair always smells. I also smelled something distinctly sweet that I could simply only describe as you.” He slowly reached down and softly grasped my hand as he brought my wrist up to his nose. “Something sweet,” he said quietly as he smiled softly down at me and kissed my wrist before lowering it back down with his own sliding down to entwine our fingers. “And of course I smelled fireworks,” he let out a small chuckle and a giggle escaped my own lips in response.

I stood up on my tip toes and brought one hand up to drag my fingers through his long hair before allowing it to rest on his cheek. I bit my lip and held back a smile before speaking, I furrowed my brow once more in fake anger. “No more lying.” I said firmly while pointing a finger at him.

He let out a laugh and bent down to wrap his arms around me and lifted me off the ground so my face was level with his. “No more lying, ever again. You know all my secrets now,” he smirked and softly kissed my lips.

After a moment he set me back on my feet and I let my hands rest gently behind his neck while we grinned at one another. 

“So what does this mean for us?”

“Well Miss Lupin, I would be absolutely honored to be able to call you mine.” George spoke as I watched a blush creep up to his cheeks.

“Well Mr. Weasley, that is just so forward of you, I didn’t see this coming at all. I’m going to have to give this a bit of thought.” I looked deep in thought, tapping a finger to my lips while thinking.

He looked at me unbelieving before a knowing smirk made its way back to his face. “Oh, shut it you.”

I laughed and leaned up to kiss him sweetly. “Well Georgie, seems like you just got yourself a girlfriend.”

“Quite a gorgeous one at that… almost as gorgeous as your boyfriend I'd say.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively before giving me a wink.

I lightly smacked his chest, then wrapped my arms back around him. “You’re stuck with me now Weasley. Good luck getting rid of me.” I muttered while resting my cheek against his chest.

One of his hands rested at the small of my back while the other continued to softly pet my hair. “I wouldn’t even think of it. Never letting you go now. Besides, if you ever make a break for it I know exactly how to find you,” He chuckled softly and placed a kiss to the top of my head.

It felt like everything had finally fallen perfectly into place.


End file.
